Three finalists have been named in the Sport Professional category of the 2026 Australian Sailing Awards, recognising the coaches, instructors and club administrators who keep sailing running behind the scenes rather than on the racecourse.
Joal Mackenzie of South Australia, Greg Rowlings of Tasmania and Melissa Warren of Victoria are the contenders. The winners will be announced at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour on Friday, October 30, the same night that will also crown the Official of the Year and Innovation Award winners, with three officials from grassroots regattas to World Championship juries and three clubs reimagining how newcomers get afloat also shortlisted.
Mackenzie leads the Brighton & Seacliff Yacht Club Sailing School, and in his first season oversaw around 914 participant engagements across school programmes, adult sailing, holiday programmes, windsurfing, Tackers and the Youth Squad. He introduced a Tacks & Tikka initiative aimed at sailors who love the sport but have lost their boat or regular crew. On Wednesday evenings the club's Pacers are rigged and ready; sailors go out, then stay on for curry night. The first two pilot sessions drew 32 participants and put eight Pacers on the water each time.
Rowlings, as Teacher in Charge of Sailing at The Hutchins School, has built a pathway over four years running from introductory sailing through to elite team racing. He instructs in the Tackers programme, coordinates the Hutchins Optimist Bursary Programme, runs the school's state, national and international team sailing campaigns, and co-ordinates the Hutchins SB20 programme alongside Nick Corkhill. He also represents Tasmania on the Australia Team Sailing Association Committee.
Sailing isn't even his main job. He's a teacher first, and gives the time regardless.
Warren, Mornington Yacht Club's first-ever Sailing Manager, has lifted numbers across the board in her first year. Winter Training Camp attendance grew from around 10 to 15 sailors up to more than 30 per camp, the 420 fleet expanded from three boats to seven, and Pacer rentals rose from zero to 18 users. She funded four instructors through keelboat licences, lifting use of the club's S80 keelboat by 350 percent, and introduced courses in splicing, diesel maintenance, VHF radio and a trailer-reversing course for women that attracted 50 participants.
She also mentored the club's Australian Women's Keelboat Regatta team to several podium results.
For sailors in New Zealand following the trans-Tasman scene, these awards show how much grassroots coaching and administration underpins the competitive pathway on both sides of the ditch. The same participation challenges, filling fleets, retaining sailors, growing junior numbers, turn up at clubs here too, even if the solutions differ. From the Tackers-style programmes at Mackenzie's club to Australian Sailing's SailLAB programme getting Townsville students out of the classroom and into dinghies, the approaches vary, but the goal, keeping sailors on the water, stays the same.
