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Australian 13ft & 16ft Skiff National Championships at Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club - Day 4

by Adam Lucius 10 Jan 2023 22:35 PST 7-14 January 2023

It literally was a day for the ladies as girls ruled and showed the strength of female sailing at the official Australian 13ft and 16ft Championships' Ladies Day celebrations at Manly on Tuesday.

A function featuring some of the country's finest women sailors was followed by the fourth and fifth heats of the nationals, which saw three young women standing at the head of the 13s pointscore tally by the end of the day.

EBIX (Jemma Hopkins & James Hopkins), Bartley Construction (Taylor Springett & Hugh Skeen) and Botany Scaffold (Sophie Hart & Bella Divola) hold down the first three spots at the halfway point of the regatta after dominating the early races.

It was the perfect exclamation point on a red-letter day for female sailing, with many of the girls partying well into the evening as celebrations continued back at the Manly club. Ladies Day started with a morning tea forum titled Inspiring Girls and featuring Manly foursome Jessica Iles, Sarah Lee and Alanna and Georgia Clancy. Host Lisa Darmanin then took to the microphone to interview former Manly junior and current Sail GP star Lucy Copeland and Zoe Dransfield, back in the skiff fleet after stints in the 29ers and 470s. Young female sailors were encouraged to ask questions and took the opportunity with both hands.

"Lisa received a lot of the questions and you could see the girls were so impressed that someone could go right through the juniors and onto the world stage," Iles said. "Sailing is unique in that you can approach people who are state or national or world champions and have that close connection with them. "There are not many sports where you can get to learn from the best in the business. "But I think the thing that impressed me the most was that at the end of the day there were a number of teenage girls who have been sailing in the juniors and are now interested in sailing in the 13s."Like all sports, the challenge is keeping girls in sport from a certain age and hopefully events like these encourage that ongoing participation."

Clancy added: "When we were coming through the juniors there were a few of us and not many transitioned into the senior classes, but hopefully now with some good guidance and good role models we can see even more come through.

"The club is doing a good job in promoting the classes and you can see that with the number of girls coming through in the 13s."

Ladies Day festivities then moved onto Celebrating Women on Deck, with Manly alumni Clare Hozack, Fiona Harris and Tash Turner discussing how the 16s has evolved and the future of women in the class.

Hozack, who sailed skiffs between 2003-11 and was the sixth woman registered in the 16s class, recalled the early challenges and struggles. She said: "I was both discouraged and heavily supported by my male peers - from telling me I'd be too small and too weak to ever sail a skiff, to donating their prize money to support me going to Europe in my dinghy, and the club giving me boat storage for free. "Hubble had me steer every race Nathan Wilmot couldn't make it for years and the worst I did at any level, including nationals, was third. "But because I was always a fill-in, I don't actually know what I could have achieved, but it was good to show the fleet, which only had one other female skipper back then, that women were perfectly capable of handling it."

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the tremendous send-off given the 13 and 16 girls as they headed out for heats four and five of the Australian Championships. When the spray settled, three local females - Hopkins, Springett and Hart - held down the top three spots on the overall pointscore tally.

In the 16s fleet, Dransfield (Southerly), Georgia Clancy (Outback Marine), Capital Brewing Co (Iles), Eva Attwood (MH44), Matilda Lang (Edenda), Shead (Marilyn Sorensen), Skiffropes.com (Amy Hargrave), Weathertex (Jess Rivers) and Bella Group (Georgia Steenson) are flying the flag for female skippers and crew.

The Regatta resumes Thursday with two races, followed by another two races on Friday with the Champion to be named on Saturday.

Further information can be found at www.manlyskiff.com.au and skiffs.org.au

Results after Day 4:

PosSail NoBoat NameSkipperClubR1R2R3R4R5Pts
13ft Skiffs
135EBIXJemma HopkinsM16SSCABN31217
238Bartley ConstructionTaylor SpringettM16SSCABN164213
341Botany ScaffoldSophie HartM16SSCABN2211318
446FluidDonald RowlinsonM16SSCABN636419
543CyberTechGroup.orgTheo FranklinM16SSCABN7N10N1523
615SheerlineOwen GillmeisterM16SSCABN855624
732Plonk CafeAvril RichardsonMH16SCABN448925
816LivewireIssac RobbinsHKSCABN101131135
99#9Angus StewartHKSCABN9791237
1040CheekyZackary WyattHKSCABN1597738
1137DutchessAmy BentleyM16SSCABN71412841
1244AwolAndrew de MontfortM16SSCABN1213101348
1345QEDDavid TulkM16SSCABN111016H1451
1431ABICOZachary BrakenburyM16SSCABN16N16N131055
1527Black CatByron LoweHKSCABN131216F1556
16ft Skiffs
1 IMEIDavid GilmourM16SSCABN462416
2 Sail RacingFelix GrechM16SSCABN1312218
3 TyphoonNathan WilmotM16SSCABN2110619
4 Moonen YachtsDaniel TurnerM16SSCABN525820
5 NoakesDave O'ConnorStGSCABN3251139
6 Eric's StorageHarry LawsonMH16SCABN64141741
7 Botany AccessChris ThomasM16SSCABN101291445
8 SkelconHenry MakinB16ABN23108748
9 Red Pumps RedTyler DransfieldM16SSCABN121941550
10 TribecaBen BradleyStGSCABN15962050
11 Sutech Building ConsultantsMichael KoernerM16SSCABN77152352
12 DominosMichael QuirkB16ABN820161357
13 CunninghamsNick ConnorM16SSCABN291111960
14 MustoHugh StodartM16SSCABN1117211261
15 SKE ElectricalScott BabbageB16ABN19357364
16 Light & WonderMatt MeaneyB16ABN924241168
17 Infinity RiggingLachlan SteelStGSCABN1716181869
18 SoutherlyZoe DransfieldM16SSCABN38303273
19 Fluid BuildingClint BowenM16SSCABN1413252779
20 NHS Building SuppliesTom DawsonB16ABN49F283585
21 Outback MarineGeorgia ClancyM16SSCABN1627261685
22 ChubbsJesse DransfieldM16SSCABN26.518202488.5
23 RW RetailCarlton SmithDPSSABN2031172189
24 Red PumpsBruce SavageM16SSCABN3625131993
25 Noakes BlueRyan EwingsStGSCABN2421222693
26 CMG Property MaintenanceMichael VincentMH16SCABN21262728102
27 ShebangAnthony KingM16SSCABN22302925106
28 KamikazeRichard WilliamsMH16SCABN30342322109
29 NozomiAndrew ChapmanB16ABN252949F10113
30 ToogaraJosh TaskerStGSCABN33153530113
31 Employment HeroWill DivolaM16SSCABN18223241113
32 Capital Brewing Co.Jessica IlesM16SSCABN13234236114
33 Firestopping ManlyAlex HartM16SSCABN26.5382829121.5
34 P LeahyMark WillsonMH16SCABN34323333132
35 MH44Eva AttwoodMH16SCABN36N19N4137133
36 EdendaMatilda LangDSCABN28363931134
37 Bartley Construction 16Nathan LilleyM16SSCABN35333135134
38 KonamiRod CarterB16ABN38451943145
39 WichardZac HeyesB16ABN37403434145
40 FIREBALLJames DowneyM16SSCABN40373838153
41 Man FluNicholas StabbackMH16SCABN39433642160
42 SheadMarilyn SorensenMH16SCABN42413744164
43 Skiffropes.comAmy HargraveMH16SCABN45394049F173
44 WeathertexJess RiversB16ABN444249F40175
45 XXXX GoldNeale JonesB16ABN414448N44N177
46 Erics RemovalsJoshua TheunissenMH16SCABN434649F49C187
47 Joe Walsh RiggingCraig DoranM16SSCABN49N49C4445187
48 Bella GroupGeorgia SteensonB16ABN49C49C49C49C196

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