LOTS regatta recap

On Friday night preceding the regatta, RSYS was buzzing with excitement – 90 women representing 14 different clubs, from the very experienced to new sailors, reunited with old friends and making new ones.

Crew members met their coaches – all legends of sailing in their own right – Karyn Gojnich (OLY), founder of the LOTS initiative, Lisa Blair (fresh from breaking the world record for circumnavigating Antarctica), Lindy Hardcastle, Julie Clarke, Vanessa Dudley, Claudia Thackray, Peta Norris, Nic Douglass, Nickie Jones and Maddie O’Shea.

Coaches conducted daily morning briefings on shore, then joined crew either onboard or from a coach boat.

Lisa Blair inspired the group with stories of courage, resilience and determination and reminded them why they enrolled in LOTS;  to learn and have fun and remember they are all sailors, not female sailors.

Talented yachting photographer, Marg Fraser Martin gave participants a lesson in how to look good in yachting photographs and all members enjoyed a gift bag generously filled by LOTS sponsors, Pantaenius, Johnson & Johnson skin care and Marlo Nourish Bars.

During the first Saturday briefing, Coach Nickie Jones reminded the mixed keelboat competitors of the basic rules of sailing (and how to optimise to them) and set a challenge for all crews to focus on eyes out of the boat.

Watching the weather, wind, other harbour activity, including ferries, and competitors; feeding information to the skipper and sail trimmers, so that course and sail trim could be optimised to make the most of sailing within the rules, improve speed and obtain that edge over the fleet.

Mother nature also sent another female to join in the fun – La Niña, who threw the crews in morning practice (and in the afternoon, also the race committee, ably led by the experienced Trish Stanley) challenges in the form of gusty, squally breeze.

For the keelboats, Race 1 had only two finishers within the 90-minute time limit, necessitating the final two races sailing much shorter courses.

“Andiamo were fortunate to have Lisa Blair on board for Race 1 and her invaluable coaching on sail trim helped us improve in the latter two races,” said Webb.

At the conclusion of Day 1, all crews were congratulated on their adaptation to the changing conditions and well-deserved Italian sparkling was served as part of the debrief.

Sunday saw the return of daylight savings. Miraculously, all crews managed to set their clocks correctly and no one was late to the 9am briefing. Coach Nickie challenged the mixed keelboat crews to focus on the starts and sail to optimise the rules.

After morning practices of start sequences, Races 4, 5 and 6 were conducted on shortened courses in slightly lower gusty, shifty breeze.

All crews applied the learnings of the morning coaching and adapted well to the changing conditions. Andiamo relished the conditions and again managed to set a kite in all three races.

When racing was over, the 90 sailors enjoyed the Inspirational Women in Sailing Dinner together to celebrate their hard efforts.

Participants enjoyed delicious food served by the RSYS catering team, together with Scicilian wines provided by Mezzacorona.

Thanks to coaches Vanessa Dudley, Lisa Blair and Nickie Jones who recounted how impressed they were at the yearn to learn and ability of all crews in the regatta.

Inspiration came in the form of Olympic Silver medallist and the Australia SailGP team’s first female member Nina Curtis, who shared some valuable insights into the inroads women are making into elements of sailing which have traditionally been the domain of males.

“On my part, I was inspired, regained a love of sailing and re-gained confidence,” said Webb.

“I am beyond grateful to Kirstin for having me on Andiamo, the supportive and encouraging Andiamo Crew, the coaches and Karyn and the LOTS team for an amazing regatta.”

“LOTS was not really about the race results. It was about learning in a supportive environment, encouragement from and to each other, be inspired to keep on sailing and having fun.

“That said, Kirstin Reblin, owner and skipper of Andiamo was elated to win the mixed keelboat fleet, taking Coach Nickie’s advice to play to the rules and with Coach Nic challenging us on the water, bravely nailing a start on Port Tack in one race.”

Speaking after the event, Reblin added, “I’m very grateful and happy to sail with highly engaged, lovely sailors who allowed me to push us out of our comfort zone to learn as much as possible in the LOTS Coaching Regatta.

“Luckily, Rowena’s and my competitiveness to cross the start line on-time and with speed didn’t take any fun away and created extra motivation.

“I’m very proud of the team to be the only boat racing with a kite, and I would like to encourage other boats to try it. It’s so much fun when it works and so much learning when it doesn’t. Helpful hint: Don’t try next to shore.”

Participants are pleased to thank the LOTS organising Committee who generously volunteered their time to organise such a successful regatta: Karyn Gojnich, Sara Ladd,  Amanda Hicks, Jonathan McCray, Jane McCulloch and Jan Newland; the Coaches Karyn Gojnich (OLY), Nickie Jones, Lisa Blair, Lindy Hardcastle, Julie Clarke, Vanessa Dudley, Claudia Thackray, Peta Norris, Nic Douglass and Maddie O’Shea, and generous sponsors: Sail Racing, Pantaenius, Nexia, Mezzacorona, Performance Boating (Jeanneau Sailboats and Yacht Sales), Boat Crew Gear, Marine Safety Works, Diverse Rigging, Boat Books Australia and Nourish.

Thanks too to the volunteer race committee: Trish Stanley, Helen Drysdale, Warwick Drysdale, David Ross and Kari Svensen, as well as photographer, Marg Fraser Martin.

Gratitude due to the generous yacht owners who made their yachts available for the regatta and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron for providing such a beautiful home for LOTS of learning and fun.

rsys.com.au/lots-regatta