Women’s football might be having its moment right now but another sport has been making strides in recent years too.
“There are a lot of women racing on boats now,” says Hamilton Island Race Week regatta director Denis Thompson. “It’s probably grown in the past 10 or 12 years, in the top-class yachts as well as the family crew on the cruising-type yachts.”
One reason Hamilton Island Race Week may attract more women sailors is because it’s day sailing versus offshore sailing, which is through the day and night, says sailor Stacey Jackson, who has been involved in the regatta since the early 2000s.
“Offshore sailing doesn’t appeal to everyone, not because they’re not tough enough but because not everyone can commit to it,” she says. “But I don’t understand why it’s not half and half.”
Jackson was skipper on the all-female crew of Wild Oats in 2018, which came second overall at Race Week. “One of my big missions is to promote women in sailing because it’s always been a bit of a battle,” she says.
Wild Oats XI at 2018 Hamilton Island Race Week. Salty Dingo
The 40-year-old is somewhat of a rock star on the circuit, sailing since she was seven and racing in the Sydney to Hobart at 18 (she’s competed in 12 Sydney to Hobart races). She also came second in the Sydney to Hobart this year. “I keep coming second. We were very close to rewriting history by winning it. Ultimately, I’d love to have another go at that race with a women’s team,” she says.
Jackson is also a big promoter of sustainability in sailing, encouraging no single-use plastics on boats. Her business, NautiBags, upcycles old yacht sails into purses, clutches and totes.
This year Jackson is among the 174 yachts racing for the Hamilton Island trophy, joining the crew of the Brisbane-based 49-footer Indigo as sailing master. It’s a course she describes as “intense”.
“There’s the tropical islands, there’s the crystal blue water, there’s the whales breaching, so it’s very scenic and beautiful. The thing I think is most special is when the race starts right out in front of the yacht club, at Dent Passage. It’s not that big of a space of water and all the boats are mingling around ready for their start. And then in classic conditions you start with a spinnaker and you run out of the harbour,” she says.
