Water Women

There is a strong contingent of women amongst our membership who have wide-ranging yachting and boating experience, including those who participate in yacht racing, have cruised the world on yachts (and power boats) or have built and rowed the St Ayles skiffs.

In 2019 there was a new initiative from Australian Sailing called ‘She Sails’ which aimed at nurturing participation by women in the world of sailing, and also helping sailing clubs to be more “female friendly” (our own Alison Viner won the inaugural Tasmanian ‘She Sails’ award for her contribution to the ‘She Sails’ goals).  In March 2022 we hosted a "She Sails, She Rows Celebration" weekend when over fifty women participated from clubs in Hobart, Kettering, Port Esperance and the Cruising Yacht Club's 'Women on Boats".  We anticipate that we will hold another similar weekend in the near future.

Two of our club members, Ginny Gerlach (an experienced skipper, commercial skipper and sailing instructor) and Felicity Rea (confident crew sailing on various boats) established a group called ‘Water Women.’

The first meeting was held at Felicity’s house on the 28th August 2019. This group aimed to unite women who are simply interested in sailing together and sharing their knowledge and skills to develop the confidence and enjoyment of all.   

Water Women is now part of PCSC and has over 40 members and currently meeting on the fourth Thursday night of every month in the Clubhouse.  Endra O'May is the Representative on the PCSC Committee.

 Communication is via email and on the What’s App ‘Water Women’ group. To have your name and contact details added to this data base, please contact PCSC club member Joanne Lentern at waterwomen@cygnetsailing.org.au

The meetings have a social as well as a serious knowledge sharing purpose. Some of the topics covered in the past twelve months include anchoring, reefing, reading the weather, navigation, sail trim and knot tying. The topic is presented by a member of the group with the appropriate knowledge, interest, skill or experience. The meetings start at 6pm, so people usually bring some nibbles to share if they can.

 
Water Women also established FLYing (Friday Ladies Yachting).  On Fridays, weather permitting, several women take out their yachts for a sail. This is organised on an impromptu basis once the weather reports have been checked late in the week. Those skippers able to sail make a plan and send out an invitation for crew via What’s App. These outings have proven to be very popular, heaps of fun and wonderfully relaxing. They are also fantastic opportunities for sailing with experienced female skippers and developing your own skippering confidence.