Big news for the week was our Women’s Keelboat team who represented SoPYC in the State Keelboat Championship last weekend. The team was made up of 3 experienced sailors and 3 of our great junior sailor’s parents. The team trained very hard over 5 weeks and I was impressed particularly with the spinnaker work which I thought was the best in the fleet.
The event was held at RFBYC, in a light north-easterly breeze, with large wind shifts and strong current. The competition was friendly but also serious with “elbows out” enforcing the rules. A good balance of respect and sportsmanship.
Seven races were a lot to jam in on a hot morning, particularly in the grey and black uniform (Will work on that next year)
Over winter and in general, we want to have more training and bring together our existing members with all our new families and new members. To find out more and get on the contact list, please email and we will let you know as soon as the program is setup.
See below for a full report of the event from the team’s perspective.
2021 Women’s State Keelboat Championships (Team Report)
The South of Perth Yacht Club (SoPYC) Women’s Team recently competed in the 2021 Women’s State Keelboat Championships, which was held on Saturday 20 March. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (RFBYC) hosted the event and eight teams competed for the title on Swan River Sailing’s fleet of Foundation 36’s.
The SoPYC 2021 Women’s Team consisted of the following members:
- Helm – Jennifer Sims
- Main – Mel Baines
- Trim 1– Mara Lowry
- Trim 2– Sonja Vlaar
- Pit – Janelle Walford
- Mast – Victoria Blanckensee
- Bow – Rachel Baveye
The SoPYC Women’s team placed 6th overall with seven races conducted during the regatta with 1st going to Sandy Anderson’s RFBYC Open team, 2nd to Adele Jackson’s RFBYC F15s team and 3rd to Nia Jerwood from Fremantle Sailing Club. Full Results: http://bit.ly/2021-SRS-Womens-SKC-Results
The five weeks leading up to the regatta involved some very intense and productive training sessions in preparation for the event and the team excelled during the limited training time. The improvement achieved over such a short amount of time was an indication of the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved.
An enormous thank you to club members Ian and Jenni Stewart and Cliff Lawrence for the many training sessions held on their Foundation 36 yachts R2D2 and Sky Walker. The Women’s team is incredibly grateful for your ongoing support and mentorship of women’s sailing at SoPYC.
Thank you to coaches Denis Jones – Head Coach, Caitlin Elks – Training Coordinator and Coach and on water training coaches being Niall Morrow, Ethan Prieto-Low and Andy Bell.
The team would also like to thank Troy Daglish – Rear Commodore, Michael Cooke – Vice Commodore, Allan Sharpe – Training and Development Committee, Dennis Jones – Head Coach and Ethan Prieto‑Low for supporting the team during and on the day of the regatta. It was greatly appreciated!
Next year will be the 30th anniversary of Swan River Sailing’s events including the Women’s State Keelboat Championships. SoPYC plan to commence a Women’s squad for training in the lead up to the event to enter a team or teams. Any interested club members should express their interest to Caitlin Elks at or look out for future communications requesting expressions of interest from women sailors.
