There is a new addition to the small but highly competitive J/80 Dublin Bay race fleet. Supported by their club the Royal Saint George in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, the 'Jeorgettes' are an all-female crew competing in their first season in the 2021 DBSC racing series writes Ali Robinson.
"It's exciting for the club," says Sailing Manager Ronan Adams, "it's imperative we ensure an entry pathway for women sailors wanting to develop their racing skills, and we are supporting our female club members and sailors, by providing a J80 for the season".
A competitive group of 16 RStGYC sailors have come together to compete head to head with the other Dublin Bay J80s in the Sportsboat & Dragon class, which is an exciting fleet and growing in size every year.
Training began back in May when the Jeorgettes entered the DBSC race training series, and they have gone from strength to strength training on Wednesdays and racing on Thursdays.
The George is a very successful and active club with many of the sports top sailors competing at junior, national and master's levels across a number of fleets. Last year, the club, along with a few female sailors recognised the number of female members at either beginner or improver levels who had an interest in crewing and developing their skills on the water, so after a few conversations, a plan was put in place to meet this demand and provide a springboard platform from which to encourage and develop female club members into the world of racing.
"Approximately 10% of the entire DBSC series are female skippers" says helm Ali Robinson who feels this initiative is a really great opportunity to get out there and mix it up with the guys.
"The best way to improve as a sailor is to go racing, buts it's also important not to over face anyone and to recognise different skills and abilities needed to balance the boat with a mix of experience and energy. We have a pool of sailors ranging from beginners, cruisers, laser masters and transatlantic offshore sailors! The aim is to build resilience in the group this season. We do this by rotating crew positions each week so no one is stuck on any one job all the time. We already have a core of racing fit crew with more and more getting their racing toes wet each week which is brilliant! "
Team Manager Joanne Shelly was successful in securing additional sponsorship, which was very kindly provided by Grant Thornton, which helps to ensure the costs of managing a racing team are not prohibitive. Joanne says, "this is a gateway for women who want to experience the sport in an inclusive and encouraging environment where it's not just about winning, its about the joy of sailing and spending time on the water, understanding the weather and tides and how a boat works. We are really looking forward to continuing this into next year".
Sailing can be perceived as requiring strength and power, but its not just about that, sailing and particularly racing requires intelligent tactics, strategy, teamwork, knowledge of the winds and tides, boat handling, seamanship and most importantly, teamwork that utilises different skills across the boat which makes it a perfect forum to bring together female sailors from all experience levels.
Kate Fogarty, Rear Commodore (Sailing) in the RStGYC, is "delighted to support our female members on the water and are proud to have such an enthusiastic group of fellow members representing the club". Many of the newer members have learnt to sail through the RSGYC USail Programme, the RStGYC dedicated Adult Sailing Programme, which provides an exciting introduction to the sport for beginners and is open to members and non-members alike.
Halfway into the season, the Jeorgettes have had good results and aim to continue improving. With their mid-summer Jeorgettes sailing dinner this Thursday and plans to compete in the Irish J/80 Nationals in Howth later this year, it sounds like champagne sailing all round! Good luck girls.