100 women on the water in the 2026 Club Marine Tasmanian Women's Keelboat Regatta
by Jane Austin 14 Mar 16:31 PDT
14 March 2026
Tight racing in the Elliott One Design Division © Jane Austin
One hundred women graced the River Derwent on Saturday, all part of the Club Marine Tasmanian Women's Keelboat Regatta.
The popular annual regatta, hosted by the Bellerive Yacht Club and supported by Australian Sailing-Tasmania, is always a highlight of the sailing calendar, offering women an opportunity to participate in sailing, in any capacity, simply for the enjoyment of the sport.
And what makes this year's event even more special is that 100 women were on the water in the BYC's centenary year.
Sandy McManus, a member of the regatta organising committee was impressed with the number of sailors competing in this important year.
"The goal was to get one hundred women on the water, and we did it!
"We are so thankful for all the support we have received from numerous volunteers in the organising of this event.
"No volunteers, no event.
"We had a lot of women who were new to sailing involved this year; we hope we have ignited something in them and built their confidence to follow further sailing opportunities with the BYC or any sailing club in Tasmania," said McManus.
Australian Sailing-Tasmania General Manager, Felicity Allison, sailing on the keelboat Saga, couldn't speak highly enough of the regatta and of the importance of women having an opportunity to participate in the sport.
"We've got one hundred women on the water so that's the big tick for making sure women get an opportunity to come out and be part of a regatta.
"Any regatta is fantastic, and this [the TWKR] is just making an extra effort for those women who don't often get on the water.
"I brought my sister-in-law along who doesn't normally race, and she is having a ball, and I'm also with a group of women that I have never sailed with - they are a great crew," said Allison.
Laila Grafton, skipper of Saga, was relaxed during the regatta, enjoying taking on the skipper's role in what proved to be a satisfying event.
"We had a great time, we were fast, and we went a lot better than I thought we were going to.
"It's been great having the opportunity to look at everything from a different angle as skipper, with lots of things to focus on, but with a really good crew, I didn't really have to stress at all," said Grafton.
Grafton's crew were pretty impressed with their skipper describing her as "a bloody legend, cool, calm and collected, very skilled."
Sailors were competing across three divisions, Elliott 6-metre one design keelboats, and two keelboat divisions.
For many, it was their first time sailing in a regatta while other more experienced sailors took on the roles of skippers and mentors, but regardless of experience, what was universal was the fun and the smiles across the fleet.
Also joining this year's regatta was Australian Sailing She Sails ambassador, Nic Douglass.
"It's fantastic to see around 100 women taking part in this year's Tasmanian Women's Keelboat Regatta, especially as Bellerive Yacht Club celebrates its 100th year.
"The role of women in the club has certainly evolved over that time, and weekend's like this really show how far things have come.
"Being out on the water watching the racing is pretty special.
"There are women here who are new to sailing, others returning to the sport, and many sharing their skills and experience.
"It's also great to see women helping run the event, with a female race officer, female media, and a huge number of female volunteers making it all happen behind the scenes," said Douglass.
Race Officer, Bridget Hutton, had a thoroughly enjoyable day on the water with the River Derwent providing variable conditions for the sailors.
"We had a bit of everything, light breeze in the first two races, then nothing, and then the expected sea breeze came in at just after 2:30 pm and from there, conditions were good.
"We mixed up the courses for each division which worked well and gave each boat the opportunity to experience something different.
"The competitors looked like they were having a good time, and we all learnt a lot, which is the aim of every regatta," said Hutton.
In the one-design Elliott division, Charlotte Armstrong skippered Elliott 4 to a win with a series score of seven points, four points ahead of Jo-Anne Verrier who finished on 11 points, with Addison Lester in third on 15 points.
On performance handicap, Verrier turned the tables taking out first place on 11 points, three points ahead of Armstrong, with Lester equal on 14 points in third.
In Division One of the keelboats, Plausible Alibi, skippered by Jodie Sullivan from the Derwent Sailing Squadron, won on performance handicap on a countback from Saga, skippered by Grafton, with both boats finishing on eight points.
Young Magic, skippered by Kirsty Salter, finished in third on nine points.
Grafton had a great regatta with Saga winning Division One on IRC and ORC handicaps, while Young Magic finished second on both handicaps respectively, with Plausible Alibi in third.
In Division Two, racing was tight with another countback deciding the overall winner, which was decided on performance handicap.
Commbank, skippered by Jane Mason, won on six points from Centinela, skippered by Fiona Breen, with Rotary, skippered by Louise Becker, in third place on 10 points.
The overall winner of the perpetual trophy was Saga, which was best performing boat on performance handicap overall.
Full results are available here