Opportunities & Pathways

There are many pathways and opportunities in Sailing and not just being on the water actually sailing!   Talk to your Club Commodore or President today and see what is available. 

To view more on our Women in Sailing Series click here

Sailing Clubs 

Many sailing and yacht clubs are run by volunteers and are always looking for people to get involved.  You can do as much or as little as you like and they need many different people and skills to make sailing on the water a reality.

Maybe you are an admin superstar or love driving boats to support the sailors.  You are an accountant or bookkepper who wants to give back to the community or someone who has a good eye for photography and want to spend some time on the water.  Maybe you just want to feel your way with racing before you start yourself and are happy to take take the times or process results from club racing.  Sailing like other sports need commentators, journalists and social media gurus. Clubs need people who are event managers, people who understand databases and membership. 

Club Committee Member

This is the biggest opportunity for women and girls to make an impact. Getting involved on your club sailing committee or management committee will be as easy as talking to the current committee and asking about future opportunities.  

Officials 

If you are interested in becoming an Official, Australian Sailing has the resources to assist you with gaining qualifications or increasing your current level of officiating knowledge, skills and judgment. Taking an officials pathway can lead you to international opportunities and even the Olympics!

Judges

At the core of sailing competition is the Racing Rules of Sailing which all participants abide by. The Judges role is to offer a range of services (related to these rules) to competitors and organising authorities. These including the hearing of protests and requests for redress, appeals, equipment compliance, and on-water judging (watching for rule infringements).

Protest Committee Member 

Complete an online course aimed at educating the basics to conduct consistent procedure, fair protest hearings at a club level. This entry level course equips new Judges to be members of a club and regatta level Protest Committee and be a valued member who can contribute to protest hearings at local sailing events. You can find more information here

Race Officers

Being an RO places you at the heart of sailing competition. The role requires the ability to perform an entire day on-water, displaying a range of skills such as race equipment preparation, on water race management and monitoring course safety.

Club Race Officer

An individual in charge of all on water activities at club or singular club race course and manages all associated race officials and volunteers. You can find more information here.

Instructor

If you are an experienced sailor who wants to develop their skills even further, why not become a qualified instructor to pass on your love of sailing to others. We have a full instructor pathway offering qualifications at all levels and across all of our learn to sail and powerboat programs. You can find more information here.

Coach

Becoming a Coach appeals to those who want to work with participants and athletes who have learnt the basics and want to develop their skills further, so that they can enjoy competing at Club, State and National events. You can find more information here

Race Officials	Race Management on the Start Boat	Taking the Finish Times at a Regatta
Manning the Radio Room and Processing Results	Melanie Peasey - Australian Sailing Safety & Rules Coordinator	Event On-Water Photographer
Katie Jones - Coach	Jo Keen - Australian Sailing Board Member	Rosie Collins International Judge represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics