How long have you been in the sport of Sailing?

30 years

What Club, Association or company are you involved with?

Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club (NCYC)
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA)
Making Waves Foundation

What part do you play in our sport? (eg. Sailor, club volunteer, committee member)

I enjoy many aspects of our sport 😊. I am a dingy and yacht sailor, a volunteer with the Making Waves Foundation and a member of the NCYC Sailing Committee and She Sails committee.

Tell us how you first got involved with Sailing

I learned to sail through a school sailing program run by Somers Yacht Club and loved it. I was adopted as a crew by lovely club members and was encouraged and supported to sail competitively by many sailors at this club. 

There are many pathways in sailing, where has your journey taken you?

I’ve been fortunate to explore many different sailing pathways and to have met many amazing friends and mentors along the way. I was a competitive 420 dingy sailor as a teenager and competed in national and international events. I took a break whilst at university but once I got a job, I bought a laser and sailed as much as I could. I was introduced to the amazing Jan Howard and Mary Holley though a fellow laser sailor and once I became involved in their she sails program at NCYC I never left the competitive, fun and social atmosphere at NCYC. I became obsessed with offshore racing and deliveries and learned as much as I could from NCYC members, RYA courses, deliveries, books and classes. I am a sailing instructor, teaching occasionally on inshore keel boats at NCYC and in the new transition to yachting program run at NCYC. 
 
I met Ian Edwards and the wonderful crew of Wings in 2019 and have sailed over 14,000 offshore miles around the Australian east coast and New Caledonia with Ian and the crew. I’ve developed skills on helm, pit, trim, bow, navigation and as a watch lead. At the end of June I am racing with the Wings team in the Transpac race from LA to Hawaii. Following on from the race I’ll help deliver Wings back to Sydney via Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu.
 
I am eternally grateful to the volunteers who introduced me to sailing and I love to volunteer with the Making Waves Foundation, an organization that supports disabled and disadvantaged youth through sailing and mentorship programs.

Whatever part of sailing you belong to, tell us about what you enjoy about your sport?

I enjoy the opportunity to meet so many amazing people, go on many different adventures and I really enjoy that sailing involves continual learning of new skills. 

What would you say to someone thinking about getting into sailing?

Sailing is great fun and is good for your mind and body. The sailing community is full of interesting, fun and adventurous people and sailing is one of very few sports that you can actively participate in for your entire life. I would recommend anyone interested to get involved with a discover sailing program at their local club.

Tell us your favourite story ….

When I was about 17, my friend Claire and I sailed a 420 dingy very competitively. We trained a lot, looked after our boat and were really comfortable sailing in all kinds of conditions. We had our boat set up on the beach ready to race in a 25+ knot breeze and some young men sailing a Lightweight Sharpie came to ask us if we were going REALLY going to race? The race committee soon called off the race but since we rigged and dressed ready to go out we thought we’d head out for a brief heavy air training session (Authors note: this was acceptable 20 years ago but is rarely allowed now for obvious safety reasons). As we were happily sailing around practicing boat handling in the waves we watched the guys take their sharpie out and continually capsize whilst being watched by the race safety boat. The safety boat eventually towed them in when they felt they’d had enough of swimming for one day. Later that afternoon Claire’s dad walked into the male change rooms and overheard one crew member sternly informing the rest; today WAS THE LAST time he would EVER go out sailing JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE GIRLS GOING OUT.