2022 Mooloolaba Women's Keelboat Regatta 

The Mooloolaba Women’s Keelboat Regatta (MWKR) emerged from the MYC Women’s Sailing Skills Development Program (created in 2017) in response to the limited local opportunity for women to participate in regatta racing.

The women who delivered the inaugural 2019 MWKR knew that development programs only give you so much :there's nothing like the regatta environment to add pressure to the practice with close river sailing in a unique environment.

Now one of SEQ’s most popular women’s sailing events, the 2022 MWKR filled in 24 hours and gave women experience on and off-water with the opportunity to helm or leadership roles in event management, admin, promotion, training and club/crew preparation.

A pre-regatta working-bee encouraged women to learn more about boat maintenance and regatta sails and equipment exposed them to quality race environments. Open to female sailors from all clubs in teams of 3-4, the event started with morning training followed by “Battle for the Bubbles” on Friday before ‘around the buoys’ series on Saturday & Gold/Silver Fleet Finals on Sunday.

The popular Wharf location exposed everyday people to race sailing, including young girls, mums and busy women who might never know what is possible  until they see it for themselves. 

Just 33 of the club's 119 sailing members are women and a professional regatta of this quality took a concerted effort from those passionate about nurturing women’s sailing. The 100% female Regatta Organising Committee encouraged women to develop their skills and 95% of leadership roles for the event were held by women. 

Everyone says without volunteers events wouldn’t be possible and this event was, even more, the case as, other than Discover Sailing Instructor sand Women’s Skill s Development Program coach, everyone at the club is a volunteer.

A culmination of many months of dedicated effort from club members, their friends and families delivered a quality regatta, inspiring women to step out of their comfort zone, develop skills and enjoy full participation in race sailing.

Regatta promotion was via direct marketing to clubs and SheSails Network with a‘ Save The Date’ promo and follow-up emails to previous teams with social media and website promotion and media releases to local & sailing media.

TV news crews interviewed organisers & skippers and with high-quality drone footage, the event appeared in multiple news stories on local, state & national media, primetime news bulletins, online, inprint and on television during & after the event.

According to Q2 ,2022 Australian Sailing research, the club ranks 5th in the country in terms of sailing club social media posts published and 25th in engagement. Much of this is due to the social media around the regatta. Obtaining sponsorship of prizes for the event was vital with contributions from Helly Hansen, Old Skipper, Nautibags and Selki Watersports and uniquely, an Amanda Davidson artwork of a team racing as the trophy with framed prints for the winners.

Initially attracting mainly MYC members, by 2022 it is 50/50 split with interclub teams returning including Newcastle, Townsville/NorthQueensland, Royal Sydney, Royal Queensland, Royal South Australian and TweedValley.

It’s a perfect pathway to women’ s race sailing, for example, a 2019 participant became a Keelboat Instructor in 2020, then Keelboat Racing Instructor, Sailing Coach, and Judge/ Protest Committee Member in 2021 and coached the MYC team in the 2022 regatta. Others have gone on to Etchells racing, owning boats, ocean racing and racing in other regattas because they gain confidence at this regatta to do more. MYKR also attracted leading women sailors including professional ocean racer Stacey Jackson, Canadian Olympian Danielle Kennedy & Australian Olympian Karen Gojnich who competes and mentors others during the event. Often women are hesitant to step up into close river racing which can be daunting, however, the regatta has enabled them to not only participate but also to grow in their confidence and skills.

The core of the event is self-development and the club plans to grow the profile of the event to be the most interactive sailing event in Queensland for women participating and the public watching, bringing sailing to the forefront, fully sponsored with major prizes and national media coverage. Their goal is to attract more women into sailing, develop women into leadership roles on boats and within the club and continue to attract experienced and new women sailors who are confident to lead others in the exciting sport of women’s race sailing.

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