Ladies Helm Race celebrates DYC women who love to sail
/Thirty years after Tracy Edwards MBE and her all-female “Maiden” crew broke the mould to become the first all-female yacht to compete in the Whitbread Race, she’s back with a new young skipper and crew for the 2023 Ocean Globe Race. Tracy says, “[they] will have the experience of a lifetime, just as we did all those years ago.”
All around New Zealand, a growing number of events aim to encourage women and girls not just to give water sports a go, but to follow Tracy’s lead to become a boss on the water. The fabulous Bay of Islands WOW (Women on Water) week, for example, gives women of all sailing abilities a unique opportunity to cultivate their sailing skills. And the inspirational Wahine on Water surf lifesaving initiative targets wahine to train to crew and drive inflatable rescue boats. There are many more.
An essential ingredient of these programmes is the opportunity to learn in a supportive and fun environment. They provide a safe place for women and girls to extend themselves and crush water sport stereotypes.
Emma from Pilates with Emma
Every year, Devonport Yacht Club hosts a Ladies Helm Race to celebrate the women who regularly helm in our club races and to encourage others to join them. Just like WOW and Wahine on Water, the race provides a supportive environment to develop sailing skills, grow in confidence, and have fun! It’s a dedicated opportunity for women to experience racing under the eye of an experienced helmswoman or alongside other women crew.
To cap it off, we finish the racing day with a champagne BBQ courtesy of the club and local sponsor, Pilates with Emma.
I’m reliably informed that, in the early days, a major point of difference for DYC’s race was the club’s rule that a woman must helm for the entirety of the race. This contrasted sharply with the rule for the equivalent RNZYS race, where ‘gentlemen’ were to helm across the start, with their ‘ladies’ to take the helm only when the race had safely begun!
Ultimately, of course, we want to see women and girls not just out on the water, but also winning on the water – just like Karen Webster and her all-female crew when they won the DYC’s blue ribbon event in 2022, the Duder Cup.
Other recent Ladies Helm Race winners include DYC members Lyn Mason, Jude Clough and Sarah Walter.
The next DYC Ladies Helm Race is on Saturday 11 March 2023. The race starts at 1000 hrs with prizegiving and a champagne BBQ on the beach at Owhanake Bay after the race.