Wind and sunshine rescued the 34th Australian Women's Keelboat Regatta from a frustrating start. The first two days had sorely tested patience, with glassy calms and fickle shifts producing barely a pair of completed races, but Port Phillip saved its best for Sunday, delivering enough breeze to complete three races and produce clear champions in both divisions.
For Ciara Earley, the result had been a long time coming. Thirty-eight years of sailing and more than a decade of AWKR campaigns, yet the Division 1 title had always remained out of reach. That changed on the final day when her Jutson 950, Jacobina, won Race 3 to clinch the division crown and the Gai Clough Memorial Trophy. Four wins from five starts told the story plainly: a boat and crew that found their rhythm precisely when it counted.
"Oh my God, that is super cool," Earley said when the results came through, admitting she could barely string a sentence together. Her crew had first sailed together as a unit only the previous day, yet they produced racing that suggested seasons of shared experience. Among those aboard Jacobina, which makes its home at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, was her husband John Rea.
What stayed with Earley went beyond the trophy itself. "The people that you see year after year – it's got so much going for it. You have lots of laughs," she reflected. "The regatta is great, fabulous, and the racing is genuinely competitive. It's lots of fun." Second place in Division 1 went to Robyn Ragauskas' Bullet on countback, with Katie Holroyd's Serious Yahoo just a point further back to complete the podium.
Division 2 produced a finish of equal tension. Michelle de Blaquiere's J24 Gridlock and Holly Farmer's S80 Revolution finished level on points, with de Blaquiere claiming the division title on countback. Farmer had made the trip south from Tauranga with a full New Zealand crew, and though the division victory slipped away for the second time since 2019, she secured the S80 trophy by seven points from Fiona McManus' Mood Indigo.
De Blaquiere, who normally races a Sabre, found something she genuinely valued in the Division 2 fleet. "I love that I can sail with my girls here. It's good to look around the room packed with females with a lot of experience," she said. Her crew came from Blairgowrie and Sandringham yacht clubs, each sailor settled in her role despite limited time on the water together. When small tactical errors crept in, the response was deliberate simplicity. "We went into the last race concentrating on the basics – mark strategy against our key opponents," de Blaquiere explained.
Farmer was warm in her assessment of the event. Having arrived to flat calm and stayed through Sunday's transformation, she had seen the regatta's full range. "We thoroughly enjoy this regatta. We have a great time here. This is a fun, social and welcoming regatta and keeps the women involved in sailing," she said. Growing up sailing on New Zealand's lakes meant light conditions felt familiar enough, and while more wind would have been welcome, she had no complaints about how the weekend had unfolded.
Race Officer Laura Hughson had promised the fleet wind on Sunday morning at RMYS, and she delivered. The first gun fired by 10am and 36 boats were soon heading down Port Phillip with spinnakers drawing, a sight that quickly made the weekend's earlier frustrations feel distant. Nine S80s, multiple J24s and a spread of keelboats across several classes had assembled for what co-chairs Monica Jones and Celia Dymond described as a near-record fleet. "Everyone has enjoyed themselves on and off the water," Jones said.
The prize-giving spread recognition well beyond the headline results. Fiona McManus from Darwin received the sportsmanship trophy after declining a tactical advantage that would have come at a rival's expense. Sue Burke, skipper of Lancoorie, was honoured with the Rohan Brownlee Leadership and Endeavour Award. Deb Parker's Double Shot took the most improved award, and Kym Jenkins aboard Cloud Ten was recognised as the novice helm.
By the time Councillor Serge Thomann and Commodore Cherry Birch were presenting the final prizes, the regatta had made good on its promise, giving women from three countries every reason to keep returning year after year.
