The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania – Dramatic women’s sailing regatta

by Peter Campbell on 9 May 2010 Experienced Hobart yachtswoman Lisa Blackwood today won a hard-fought and, at times, dramatic Sargison Jewellers Tasmanian women’s keelboat regatta on a windswept Derwent River that saw two ‘women overboard’ incidents.

Sailing in the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s fleet of Elliott 5.9 sportsboats, the ten all-women crews battled chilly 20 knot winds with the gold fleet result decided on Blackwood’s tactical skills in the final race.

'There was just one point between us and young 420 national champion Lucy Shepherd going into the last race…she was on fire, we had to cover her all the way,' said Blackwood, who recently finished a close fourth in the Australian championships for the International 2.4 metre single-handed keelboat class.

This was the third win in this regatta for Lisa, who is also a champion in radio-controlled yachts. 'I really enjoy these sorts of events, but today’s racing was a real challenge, both in the competition and in the conditions,' she added.

The end result saw Blackwood and her crew of Noni Waters and Pip Bottomley from the Derwent Sailing Squadron finish at the top of the gold fleet on seven points, followed by RYCT member Jacinta Cooper, Nikola Lane and Dimity White on 10 points, taking second place on a count-back from Australian Mirror dinghy champion Jessie Atherton from Kingston Beach Sailing Club and her crew of Katherine Maher, Jenny Graney and Amanda Reynolds. Lucy Shepherd and her teenage crew from Sandy Bay Sailing Club placed a close fourth on 11 points.

Two women fell overboard in the challenging conditions, one from Jacinta Cooper’s crew who hung onto a sheet and climbed back onboard unaided, while Peta Lane spent several minutes in the freezing River Derwent after toppling overboard from the boat skippered by her sister-in-law Lisa Guy.

'We were trying to gybe the sails in difficult conditions and I toppled overboard,' Lane said later.

'I was in the very cold water for several minutes before the rescue boat picked me up, they then transferred me to the committee boat where they swaddled me in warm clothing and gave me hot chocolate,' Lane added.

Recovering quickly, Lane rejoined her crew and they won the next two races to finish a close second in the silver fleet in which Jennifer Potter took top honours.