Q&A with Skipper Jacqui Cole
Regatta results
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your sailing experience to date.
For a bit of fun, let’s circle back to about 1994 where I screamed the proverbial house down when my family tried to take me out on a canoe from an adventure park a bit over an hour south of Adelaide. Water (especially where I could not see the bottom) and I were not friends… fast forward about 12 months later, my older brother had started high school with sailing being a summer sport option. Not to be outdone or left behind, and much to my parent’s surprise, I wanted in. So, in the mid 90s I joined in the Saturday morning training offered by Somerton Yacht Club where I was shortly picked up as a Heron crew (pic 1). I had some great opportunities in the Herons with States, Nationals and Youth States. It was a fantastic family class that also lured my dad into the sport. After the Heron days, I moved into the Tasar class. Probably the highlight of that was competing with another 122 boats at the Busselton Worlds in 2015. I’ve also sailed a handful of OTB cat classes, mostly a Mosquito and Tornado.
It was about 2016 when the keelboat bug bit. With my keelboat involvement increasing, dinghy wise, I opted for a Sabre so I could be a bit more flexible with sharing my time between two clubs. The Sabre has been perfect, but the poor little thing spent too much time in the shed last season for my liking…
PS when you jump back into the dinghy after time on the big boats… you realise that big boat sailing makes you a little lazy! haha
What made you decide to enter the SA Women’s Keelboat Regatta?
Specifically? A drive to keep myself a little out of the comfort zone so I keep learning and developing. Even with all those years of racing experience, there’s still a bit of self-doubt that runs around in the ol’ noggin, so for me I kind of needed to prove to myself that I was capable of doing this. I’ve had so many great examples of women helms/skippers at the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron and since I started there, was lucky enough to be taken under the wing of Helen Willmer who I have done most of my Women’s Series racing with, including the 2019 (Bow on Clockwork) and 2022 (Main/tactician on Mrs Overnewton) Australian Women’s Keelboat Regattas.
How do you know Bob and how did it come about that he made available Clockwork for the regatta?
Shortly after I took part in a RSAYS Come & Try weekend (Sept 2016), I started Wednesday night twilight racing. I tried two or three boats, but Clockwork was the one that stuck. I was still regularly dinghy racing on a Saturday at this stage, but you could count me in for EVERY twilight race or any Sunday racing that was happening. In 2018, Bob asked me to be part of Clockwork’s campaign for the Adelaide to Lincoln Race and Regatta Week… that was really my baptism of fire! I hadn’t done any overnight racing at that point, nor had I done much W/L racing with a kite.
Really from the get go, Bob’s been such an amazing knowledge sharer and mentor, and so generous to both Helen and me. Generosity to the point that in 2019, he arranged to deliver the boat to Melbourne for the AWKR so we could compete (Helen on helm, me up the pointy end). Not only is he an ally to women in sailing but a huge advocate for Sailability – as I write this, Bob’s on his way to Hiroshima for the Hansa Class Asia Pacific Championships.
While I’ve done every Lincoln Race/Week since 2018, twilights and winter series, my proper Saturday keelboat racing didn’t really kick off until season 2021/22. Bob was starting to indicate that Clockwork may not be around for much longer so I decided to commit to the Saturday Inshore Series. I took on a bigger role managing the crew for each race, and with Bob on the helm, we won the series on PHS and AMS.
Having done a race across the gulf in the double handed series last year on Clockwork, we thought what the heck, let’s enter it in the full double handed series this winter. Pretty stoked to say we came 2nd on PHS and 1st on AMS, which is no mean feat for a boat that is certainly not set up for that style of racing… Double handed racing has certainly taught me to a) think it all through and pre-plan; and b) not take for granted ANY role on a fully crewed yacht. So yeah, I guess my commitment to the boat, the experience on the helm that I’d built up over twilight races and the double handed series is what earned me the privilege of being offered that beautiful boat for SAWKR.
What were the Top 3 challenges you faced putting the campaign together
1. Getting people to commit that they were available for the regatta.
2. If they were available for the regatta, getting them to come out for training leading up to the regatta. We finally went out as our full racing crew the day before!
3. The biggest challenge was finding a tactician, someone who had racing experience, could fill in all positions on the boat if required and was familiar with similarly set up yachts.
Cue, Liz Charles. Having given up hope of finding that 9th and final position, I was prepared to go into the regatta with my team of 8. I’d sailed the double handed series on Clockwork with Bob… how hard could it be? Anyways, back the story; at dinner the weekend before the regatta, I actually tried talking my friend to coming out, but she was staunch in the fact that her regatta racing days were well in the past. She did, however, remind me that she’d recently returned from Sydney and sailed on her friend’s Sydney 38, ‘Mondo’. Tricia reached out to Lisa (you haha) then and there. Lisa was unable to but (there was a but!), she suggested the aforementioned Liz Charles. After a sneaky Facebook stalk, many messages and a quick chat to sound each other out, Liz booked her ticket to little old Radelaide. I was stoked. That felt like the final hurdle and maybe, just maybe, this was going to be an awesome regatta.
What were your goals going into the regatta?
Initially, my goals were to just get around the course, not embarrass my team and not break the boat… pretty lofty ambitions, right? I had some stiff competition in Helen Willmer on Black Butterfly (XP-44) and Janet Thornley on Balancing Act II (11m One Design). However, the closer I got to the long weekend and after our second training (we shan’t mention the first training session… just think multidirectional kite wraps), I started to think that maybe we could do ok… Getting a bit excited, after half a bottle of wine one night, I decided that I should write four pages of notes about the boat and how I wanted things to run; everything from starting, to who’ll sit in what order on the rail, to kite down/bottom gate mark procedures. Basically, the notes were like a bit of a script, and luckily, they were well received by the crew (well, that’s what they told me anyway haha). I progressed from this (and then after finally locking in my 9th person) to thinking maybe we had a chance at the podium.
So, going into the long weekend, that’s what the goal was, and that’s what we achieved. Div 1 – 2nd on AMS and 2nd on PHS with three across the line wins in front of the XP-44 and the A40RC, Papillion. I was also super stoked to have been presented with the Best Novice Keelboat Skipper Award. This was particularly special as it had been made and donated by Helen Willmer who was, as mentioned above, the catalyst to get me started in Keelboat sailing.
What were the highlights from the regatta?
So many things! The perfect weather, the dolphins, the comradery, the mini party rafting up with Black Butterfly and School’s Out (Bavaria 40) between races on the Sunday whilst we waited for the sea breeze, but really, the best thing was to see how we all came together as a crew and succeed. I had a mate on a spectator boat off the top mark on the second day, remark how slick our windward roundings were. There were a few occasions that we kept lifting to the mark on port, resulting in no time for a pole up/pre-brace on starboard tack, which as you all know, ordinarily makes for a nice easy bear away. As we approached the top mark on port, I remember saying, “ladies, we’re tacking on the mark, this is going to be the quickest pole up/kite hoist of your life”. They delivered for me time and time again, and I think that probably was the real highlight… my amazing team x.
What are your upcoming plans for Women’s regattas or races?
The Women’s Series at RSAYS started last Sunday (9th). I went out on Clockwork with the new co-owners, Mary-Anne Harvey and Andrew Lloyd. It was a pretty emotional day coming off the back of SAWKR and trying to work out the new dynamic of the boat. The women’s series this season for me might be jumping around to a few different crews to help out. I know I’m always more than welcome back on Clockwork which is lovely. There is a stand alone trophy race as part of this series were I’ve secured a Farr42IRC to enter. Just need to fill a few final spots!
For AWKR, as I understand, it will be the same team as this year, “getting the band back together” so to speak – we have a point to prove! So that might be on Mrs Overnewton (Bavaria Match 38) again, or there have also been murmurs between the new owners regarding taking Clockwork over…
I’d love to get up to Darwin for their regatta and have a crack on the Elliot 7s at some point; but as for SAWKR next year… conversations have been had… seeds have been planted. Watch this space (insert winky face here).
While I do have the attention of Sydney peeps, I just wanted to insert a shameless plug for:
a) SAWKR next year (October long weekend again) – CYCSA has six beautiful, new Elliot 7s for charter. There are also up to six J24s available from the RSAYS. No doubt there will be individual crew positions on bigger yachts if you leave your details with the organising Committee.
b) The Adelaide to Lincoln Yacht Race aka Teakle Classic (17 February 2023) and stay on for the Lincoln Regatta Week. As part of the event, Port Lincoln will also be hosting the Australian Yachting Championships. Boston Bay is perfect for flat water and close racing. For the foodies among us, it’s also the seafood capital of Australia. You won’t regret it.
That’s enough from me, have a ripper season, everyone!
Jacqui
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