Australian Women's National Match Racing Championship at Fremantle Sailing Club
by Bernie Kaaks 15 Sep 01:08 EST
9-12 September 2025
Two-time Olympian Nia Jerwood entered the Women's National Match Racing Championship with little match racing experience. She proved that she has three valuable assets however: She is fast, has extraordinary powers of determination and concentration and is a very quick learner.
Sydney-based skippers Harriet McLachlan and Heidi Ferguson came into this championship carrying world rankings of 42 and 78 respectively and arrived with experienced match racing teams, so were clear favourites coming into the regatta. Local skippers Mia Lovelady, Nia Jerwood and Kirstin Norris had the benefit of local knowledge on the waters off Fremantle, but very little exposure to the Elliott 7's used in the regatta. RQYS's Ayla Barney, the youngest skipper in the group, was an unknown quantity.
Hosted by Fremantle Sailing Club, the championship was well organized and ran smoothly. Weather conditions over the three days were unusual. Wednesday's racing was marred by a long windless spell during the transition from easterlies to the southwest, during which racing was allowed to continue. Thursday's races were run in slightly better breezes, predominantly from the northeast and the finals on Friday were run in the best breezes of the regatta, generally from the north at 15 to 20 knots, leading to some interesting challenges in boat handling.
It quickly became apparent that the top five sailors were very close. As expected, Nia Jerwood started slowly but was quick to adapt to the match racing discipline and took on her more experienced opponents with an icy determination. At the end of the round robin series, an unlucky Mia Lovelady finished out of the finals, just one win short, along with Ayla Barney, who will have learned a great deal from her experience.
At the end of the round robins Harriet McLachlan topped the leaderboard with an 11-4 scoreline ahead of Nia Jerwood on ten wins and selected Kirstin Norris as her opponent in the semi finals, leaving Heidi Ferguson to face Nia Jerwood.
There was so much drama! One of Kirstin's crew fell overboard, sustaining a suspected concussion as her head contacted the hull. Ayla Barney, whose campaign was already over, generously stepped in as a substitute crew. With the score locked on two wins each in the semis, Kirstin started well and established a solid lead, albeit with a penalty in place from a prestart transgression. Inexplicably, the crew forgot about the penalty, crossing the line with a comfortable lead, only to see the win go to Harriet's team.
In the petit final, Heidi Ferguson easily accounted for a dispirited Kirstin Norris, while in the main event, Harriet McLachlan found herself down two races to nil against a strong challenge from Nia Jerwood. A classic tacking duel on the first windward leg saw at least fourteen tacks in rapid succession (we started counting late!) as Harriet threw everything at Nia's crew, but Nia refused to be intimidated and even gained a little during the exchange.
Race three reversed proceedings when Harriet won the start and defended doggedly against Nia's attacks, keeping a tight cover on her opponent. Harriet took the win. Two-one to Nia...
The fourth race looked to become a repeat of the previous one, with Harriet clinging to a small but significant lead until the final downwind leg, when the spinnaker pole caught in a halyard during a gybe and suddenly fortunes changed. Harriet's spinnaker collapsed, a crew desperately trying to retrieve the errant pole which was now well above her reach, and Nia pounced, going away for a comfortable win to take the title.