Two local women spent their weekend sailing in the sunshine in the inaugural South Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta in North Haven.
Skipper Jennifer Jones from Port MacDonnell and Mount Gambier’s Donna Howard joined with Monica Tjung, Leah Toms and Maya Davis to race the 24 foot keelboat Torqeedo.
“We had an amazing weekend in Adelaide and the Cruising Yacht Club turned on the most beautiful weather for us,” Jones said.
“It was magnificent 10 knot sailing most of the weekend with smooth seas and no waves, it was paradise for us girls on Torqeedo.”
The crew were thrilled with the smooth sailing as it was only their second time out, with the first being the weekend prior as a test run.
“For us girls on Torqeedo we came third twice on handicap in our division and there were 10 boats, so to come in third we were really impressed with that,” Jones said.
“The boat that won first on handicap is a boat called Stella Rouge and we would need to beat that boat by two hours.
“We beat it by half an hour and still was not enough to get us into first position.
“But we are so thrilled with the way we performed.
“The boat is a beautiful boat and the crew all gelled well together wonderfully.”
Jones said there were plenty of support crews around to ensure the competitors were kept safe.
“The boys on the support boats kept telling us they could hear us laughing all the time, so what a wonderful thing to say,” she said.
“We were safe with the motor … but if we had gotten into some sort of trouble where we could not start the motor, there was support there if we needed it.
“And that is invaluable for women who are going on their first sail without a bloke on board because we are so used to having a bloke on board because we think we just need them, but we proved it this weekend.”
Jones said the atmosphere was sociable yet competitive, with the crew learning new skills along the way and gaining valuable friendships.
“It has just been an amazing experience and the sailing community up here embraced the concept of women on boats wholeheartedly,” she said.
“We have had parties every night so that has been a bit of a marathon with many Adelaide sponsors.
“The sponsors have been very generous towards this regatta with refreshments along with food and I really want to thank those sponsors for what they have done.
“It was all about that we had something in our tummies after we came back from sailing.”
Following the weekend sailing all crews attended a presentation dinner with SA Governor Frances Adamson in attendance.
