sailing olympics

Melissa Yeomans

Thanks for the memories

The time has come to return to normal sleeping patterns. What an incredible result with Two Gold and a Silver it has been for our Paralympian’s in Rio. Not only incredible results but the way they handled the pressure and the way they spoke about Sailing not being in the 2020 Paralympics. Congratulations Dan, Liesl, Colin, Jonathan, Russell and Matt.

Dan and Liesl what an amazing scorecard. You both are incredible role models for the sport of sailing not just Paralympic sailing. The way you spoke of the course area and the respect you showed it and your competitors speaks volumes. Back to back Gold had never been done in Paralympic Sailing, what an achievement. Let’s face it you are all fantastic role models and I hope we hear more of you in the coming years.

To your Coaches and support crew congratulations also! Following you all on Social Media you could see the passion and energy that went into making this event something to remember as well as being a success for the team.

I would like to thank the Australian Sailing Team and World Sailing for their Twitter feeds, it certainly helped to understand what was happening on the race course. It made the early mornings easier!

The team has now headed home after arriving back in Australia yesterday. Australian Sailing hosted a function at the CYCA to welcome them home that was full of emotion celebrating the success that for some time will not be beaten.

On a personal note it was wonderful to catch up with the team yesterday. Being Official Suppliers to the team means we have got to know the sailors over the years, especially with Rope choice being such a personalised decision.

We often say that we are more than just a sponsor and I do hope the sailors feel that way also. Over the years it has been fantastic to get involved in more than just rope selection.

Thank you for the amazing journey we have all been on with you. As much as we love the Titles you now hold, I hope you don’t hold them forever. Leaving the CYCA yesterday with Liesl and Mark (her partner who I sailed with years ago) was something that will stay with me forever. The car all loaded up and a couple of blokes recognise her, so Liesl jumps out of the car and asks if they want a photo with Goldie. I wish I was fast enough with my phone to film the reaction. What a nice reminder of how special it is.

If you get the opportunity to hear one of our Paralympians or Olympians speak it is well worth taking the time to do so. I hope you all get to hear their stories.

Thank you to the Daily Telegraph for this article. The welcome home was wonderful for our Sailors.

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Melissa Yeomans

This is it

Photo by Liesl Tesch
Photo thanks to Liesl Tesch as they prepared to enter the Stadium

This is it. The Paralympics’ sailing starts Tuesday at 2am AEST and our Aussie Sailors featured this morning in the coverage of the Opening Ceremony. Liesl Tesch as always front and centre, the life of the party. You can see what this means for the athletes including our sailors and their support crew.

We woke in the early hours to cheer on our Olympians, we headed to club houses for the Medal Races. Aussie Sailors I call on you to get behind OUR TEAM! Dan and Liesl (Skud18), Matt (2.4), Colin, Jonathan and Russell (Sonar).This is it, there is no option of 2020. Our Aussie Sailors and Sailing Internationally needs us to get behind them. The effort they have put in is incredible, as someone who knows them, I can vouch for this.

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The Australian Sailing Team. Photo Liesl Tesch

Good Luck Team! You have done the training and now it is time to go sailing and enjoy it.

I am so proud to be entered in this year’s Bart’s Bash which falls on the final weekend of racing in Rio. This year Bart’s Bash is raising funds for Disabled Sailing Internationally which needs our support. Let’s Reinstate Sailing! Doing so will give others World Wide the opportunity to participate in competitive sailing no matter their disability.

Because of the Paralympics the design of the boats available to disabled sailors has seen some incredible changes. When you look at a Skud 18 and how someone like Dan or Ame skipper, it’s remarkable. It is my hope that the Legacy of the Paralympics will not be lost. That in 2024 Sailing will once again return to the Paralympics.

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Melissa Yeomans

Aussie Sailors Rock

I often joke that my life is all about sailing. Working in the industry, going to boat shows, umpiring or just trying to find time to actually go sailing. The past few weeks it stepped up a gear with the Aussie Sailors competing in Rio. Waking each morning to follow the tracker, whatever course area was live on the 7app or more importantly the AST Twitter feed. I wasn’t alone with many other sailors online in the early hours of the morning.

With two of our DeckHardware brands Official Suppliers there is the obvious business connection for supporting the sailors. To be honest though we support them most importantly because of friendships. I like to think we are more than a sponsor as for many we were friends first. The support we give the team is a lot more than Product and that is something we are proud of.

The Aussie Sailing community is such a tight group with so many of us knowing each other thanks to regatta’s across the country. This showed up especially during the medal races with RPAYC, Manly 16’s and Wangi RSL opening their doors for supporters to cheer on the Aussie’s together.

I can not thank enough the amazing people who woke up early despite no racing to be at MHYC for the Sunrise Weather cross.  Pulling together with just a few hours notice we managed to not only find a crowd for 0530 but also a Laser to take Sam Mac out on. A big thanks to Lauren for remembering her sailing gear! With Olivia there as the special guest sailing commentator, we managed to pull it off.

Heading to Manly 16’s one of the clubs I spent my junior years to watch the Laser and Nacra Medal races will stay with me a long time. If you have never had the chance to watch a medal race in a room full of sailors make sure you clear the diary for 4 years time! It is something that stays with you. I still tell stories of watching Nath Wilmot and Mal Page at MHYC all those years ago.  Now I feel old!

Finishing off the games at Wangi was fitting. Being part of #TeamWangi and supporting Nath and Goobs, I wouldn’t have been anywhere else. To Jody and everyone at Wangi who went above and beyond you are amazing! The main street was decorated, the RSL had a road sign out the front wishing them luck! The RSL was not only decorated but had lights outside to match all the green and gold. I think the live crosses with Sunrise Weather will be talked about for a long time. As will the special cross to Nath and Goobs!

Yesterday the team arrived home and the first two I saw as I walked up the stairs were Nath and Goobs. I couldn’t be prouder of these two, of supporting them as a friend and sponsor. After all they are the reason we became a sponsor! Getting to see these two come home with another medal was worth the lack of sleep and more. Especially as they are home for such a limited time before heading back to the America’s Cup and Artemis.

It is fantastic to see the Aussie Sailors come home with a Gold and three Silvers. Once again Sailing has been in the media which is so good for our sport! I hope every club out there is able to take advantage of this to help grow this fantastic sport! Let’s make sure we as a sport make the most of the increased interest.

A huge thanks to the entire team who took the time to sign the Bart’s Bash flag. Now the focus shifts to promoting this great event and the Paralympic Sailors who are so deserving of our support and a place at future Paralympics.

Head over to the DeckHardware Facebook to read our business post.

Melissa Yeomans

Sydney Sailing features and so it should!

The last few weeks have been amazing and at the same time it feels like months haha.  The first Olympic Sailing Team Members were announced for Rio with Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen announced as our 49er Team. Mat Belcher and Will Ryan on the 470 and Lisa Darmanin and Jason Waterhouse on the Nacra. It is an exciting time to be involved with the team as a sponsor as well as seeing people like Nath and Goobs who I have known for so long get the call up to another Olympics.

The Extreme Sailing Series hit my home waters of Sydney Harbour and old friends Katie Spithill and Stacey Jackson were in the thick of it competing onboard 33 South Racing. I should say that they are not old, we have just known each other longer than we probably would care to admit. As a result I offered myself as a mini cheer squad, Social media advisor and whatever else I could help with. For many reasons I was more than happy to help, including the fact that we are old friends and crewmates as well as how well they represent sailing and female sailors especially.

What an experience it was. An amazing opportunity for Katie in particular to show she can mix it with the more experienced Extreme Sailing Series skippers. It didn’t all go to plan thanks to a Port and Starboard setting back the weekend however I think the determination and attitude the crew showed to come out the other side proved their was a lot of promise and competitive nature backed with skill.  To say the crew were itching to get back out on the water would be an understatement whilst waiting for the repairs.

A year earlier I had been cheering on Nath Wilmot and crew on GAC Pindar and this time around it was another crew from our youth. I think I have mentioned before that Aussie Sailors Rock!  There is something special about where we have come from that has created a really inspirational group of sailors on and off the water.  I am so proud to be connected with so many friends from the past and doing what I can via both the Sydney Sailboat Expo and the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation to promote Sailing.  I hope the next generation of young sailors can be just as lucky to create great friends and memories.

Speaking of the next generation, Sail Sydney was on over the past weekend with a brilliant turnout! As one of the MANY volunteers it was wonderful to see so many course areas and classes competing on the Harbour. There were also some amazing photos of the Super Maxi’s out training sailing past the Sail Sydney Competitors.

Now comes Christmas but there is no slowing down! Boxing Day is a pretty big day in Sydney Sailing and there is no need to guess where I will be! On Sydney Harbour of course! Once again volunteering on the second line Start Boat.  Being able to do so is something special for all of us and a reward for all the hours of volunteering we do throughout the year and the effort we go to as volunteers to ensure we have the skills to back it up.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart brings many Aussie Sailors Home. Yesterday morning it meant catching up with Nocka (Anthony Nossiter) for a long breakfast, it has been a big year.  So it was nice to sit down and chat about all sorts of topics including of course plans moving forward for the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation and how we felt about how the year had unfolded.  It has been quite the journey.

In the end it is all about friendships. Nocka’s friendship with Bart, Nocka and My friendship, My friendship with Katie and Stacey. I think you get it, sailing isn’t just something we do competitively. We do it because we love it and that is why I hope to introduce many more to this great sport and will continue to put up my hand to support friends should the opportunity be there.

See you on the water!

 

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Melissa Yeomans

The International Sailing Summit 2014 – My First One

DSC_0947As I was in Europe for METS and the International Sailing Summit was on the day before, it was the perfect opportunity for me to attend the summit which is something I have been wanting to do.  The program certainly was of interest to me especially as a young female in the Sailing Industry.  I was very impressed at what was put together, the topics and speakers.  Naturally everyone would have different highlights of the event.  It certainly was a little scary but not surprising when we were asked to put up our hands if under 34, I did not see many hands…  The gender divide is however something we are all well aware of and it was good to hear it being discussed as still this sadly can be an issue in the Industry.

This years speaker to welcome everyone was Iain Percy who had some interesting stories to tell especially on the way sailing is changing.  There is no doubt that the technology and training involved at his level of sailing is incredible.

For me the highlights were Molly Winans from Spinsheet who spoke on “Changing your game plan to welcome diverse customers” with a fantastic slide show to go with it showing the reason we need to rethink the images we use for marketing.  Richard Percy did a great job talking about the Bart’s Bash effect and their plans from here which were certainly great to hear.  Then there was Terry Greenwood from British Cycling who showed the changes British Cycling had made and the opportunities that came from doing so.  If I had to pick my top three that would be my choices. However there really were some other great topics on the day.

This year the event was live streamed which was fantastic to see for those who couldn’t make it to the event.  To check out some of the action from the day visit the YouTube account of sportsXstream.

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The evening finished off with a Gala Dinner.  As you can imagine it really is a nice dinner with everyone talking Sailing.  Which is what we all love to do!

For those who work in the industry I highly recommend looking at these videos and finding time to attend the International Sailing Summit in the future.  The sport does need our nurturing for us to have a sustainable industry, let alone if you happen to love our sport.

As someone who is working on an event to support the sport and industry with the Sydney Sailboat Expo, I know it would not happen with out the effort of those behind it and the sponsors.  Well done all involved! Check out the Facebook page for more info!

Melissa Yeomans

Sailing getting some recognition!

The Australia Day Long Weekend of 2014 has been a great one for sailing.  We have seen sailors rewarded with Australia Day Honours along with others who are behind the scenes of our sport.  Over the weekend we also saw Richard Hinds counting down the current 100 greatest Aussie sports stars which was featured on the Daily Telegraph.  Sailing as a sport is currently growing in interest and awareness.  Australian Sailors have always been up there as some of the best in the world but recently the achievements have been even great to see them getting noticed more.

The Olympians, Paralympians and America’s Cup Sailors bring our sport into the limelight.  It is not what everyone does when they go sailing on the weekend and many sailors often would like to see the focus shift away a little from the high profile events.  As someone who is in the Sailing Industry and involved in my local club I honestly am happy to see anything that will help increase the participation rate of sailing.  The more sailing is in the news the better chance we have of people deciding that it looks like fun and something worth trying out.  The more people aware of how much fun it is spending time on the water and at your local club the better!  Let’s face it, it is a lifestyle and makes us who we are. There are often boats looking for crew and many clubs have a variety of ways for people to get into the sport.

Seeing the sport of Sailing in the news and getting recognition can only be a good thing.

OAM ‘s on Australia Day were awarded to Our Medal Winning Sailors Tom Slingsby, Mathew Belcher, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, Daniel Fitzgibbon.

Liesl Tesch was recognised for more than her sporting abilities, awarded an AM (Member of the Order of Australia) for both her Paralympic success and her “promotion and facilitation of sport for people with disabilities”.  Liesl is the co-founder of Sport Matters, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes disabled sport in developing countries.  Make sure you check out all she does for Sport Matters.  How she finds time to do all the she does is remarkable and she deserves to be recognised for what she does for those with disabilities as well as inspiring others.

Peter Campbell was recognised for his journalism in Sailing with an OAM.  Just do a search for his name and many articles appear as he has been at the front of sailing journalism for a long time.  He has been recognised by Yachting Australia a number of times for his efforts.

David Tillett was awarded an AM (Member of the Order of Australia).  For significant service to the sport of sailing.  Here is a link to an article on just some of what he has done for our sport.  His Yachting Australia Profile just gives us the tiniest insight into the time and energy he has given to Sailing.

Robert Oatley received appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day Honours.  Bob received the honour in recognition of his service to the wine industry, tourism and yacht racing.

Next up was the list compiled by Richard Hinds.  A Massive congratulations to Tom Slingsby, Mat Belcher and James Spithill for being recognised. To have a sailor at number 5 is just awesome and a fantastic highlight of where our sport is going. It is a shame that Nathan and Goobs missed out as their achievements have been fantastic and worthy.  As with any list like this there will always be a big discussion on how you would see it differently.  There is no doubt that I am more than a little biased when it comes to some of the sailors I have had the privilege to support and get to know.

Sailing in the spotlight.  We need to see this more to ensure our sport continues to grow as when it grows it just gets better for us all!  More competitors, better clubs, more crew, more skippers looking for crew, more chandleries, sail makers, boat builders and so much more.

Congratulations to those who have been recognised.  If I have missed anyone please let me know so I can add them!   Sailing going mainstream media, who would have thought!

Melissa Yeomans

So busy time flys past me

It has been an insane few weeks!  Two of them were spent out of the office at Match Racing Events on the water of Sydney Harbour and Pittwater.    This was followed with coming back to the office as Phil headed down to Sail Melbourne!  Which coincided with the busiest month of the year starting and it was BIG!  Then we get to this week and Monday Night I had the opportunity as a sponsor to attend a special function for the Australian Sailing Team – the “Road to Rio” Begins.  Then Tuesday was the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge and I took the time to head down to the shore and take some photos and videos!  So where do I start…

I truly love this time of year.  Plenty of time on the water at different events as well as a business which is all about the sport of Sailing meaning we get extremely busy at this time of year!   The Match Racing saw some interesting conditions and I do not think I have ever been as wet as I was umpiring on Pittwater and it was not even raining!  The conditions and breeze saw waves breaking over the boat and the umpires!  It was however great fun with a great team.  The conditions at both events truly were all over the place making it really hard and some long exhausting days.   By the end of the 8 days I was looking forward to a bit of rest and that was never to come!

The good news is however that business has certainly hit the peak season.  With DeckHardware keeping us more than busy as we try to keep up with the demand!  A huge thanks to Cam McDonald who turned up just in time to help unpack the big Liros Shipment. Cam is well known in the 18′ skiff fleet in particular for his splicing. Thanks Cam! We all know he wanted first go at the new stock haha

The Road to Rio Launch was a fantastic event to be able to attend.  We have been involved with the team for a number of years now as well as some of the athletes and even some of the support team are friends so it was great to be included.  We were reminded that we are all a part of the journey and have our part to play.  To find out more about the Road to Rio Launch head over to the Australian Sailing Team’s Website.

Australian Sailing Team Embarks On Road To Rio

The SOLAS Big Boat Challenge was the very next day.  For the seventh consecutive year, the CYCA has decided to dedicate the event to raise awareness and funds for its SOLAS Trusts, which were established following the stormy 1998 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race when six lives were lost.  This is something that is extremely important for many of us.

Link to my photos

 

Up next is the Sail Middle Harbour Regatta which is going for the next three days out of two of my favourite clubs MHYC and MH16’SC. For those who remember my yacht Animus, I had both clubs written on the stern as my crew was often filled with skiffies.

To finish off I have a ThrowBackThursday moment from 2008, I stumbled across this great photo! One American Sailing Anarchist who wanted to see what it was like to sail with a chick crew hahaha.  Yes he flew to Aus!  What a great day! Most of the time I did not seek out an all female crew it just sometimes happened when none of the guys could make it.  Other times as the skipper I would be the only chick onboard.   #TBT

The Animus Crew
The Animus Crew
Melissa Yeomans

Yachting Awards and Sailing Chix

On Friday night the Sailing Chix and I headed to the Australian Yachting Awards!  For all the winners check out the link.  It is always a great night getting to see Australian Sailors celebrated.  There were more than 230 guests attended the event at the Byron Kennedy Hall in the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park, Sydney.  The three of us managed to catch up with friends along with spreading the word on our new Radio Show.  The feedback we had on the show was fantastic!  Thanks so much everyone for the support.  As a sponsor of the Australian Sailing Team the Yachting Awards is certainly a highlight.

Nina Curtis and Liesl Tesch certainly are two of our biggest advocates!  Love them so much!  Good to know we have some other awesome sailing chix wanting to see our new venture succeed.

Saturday morning we then woke up early to be on air!  We kicked off a little early and still did not manage to cover everything!  We will be backing it up in the next show.   Here is our show update from Yesterday:

Jam packed champion chat!

Well what a show we had for you this morning! So much went on last night at the Yachting Australia awards that we will just have to roll over the after party to cover more interviews for you next week!

Today we did chat to Cam Williams from Channel 9, Mark Spearman who took out the Youth Sailor of the Year award, and of course our great interview with one of the Volunteers of the Year, John Middleton and Mike “Fletch” Fletcher who was honoured with the Yachting Australia Lifetime Achievement award.

We did get to meet the Minister for Sport, it was great to hear about how her son fell in love with sailing at the launch of Discover Sailing at the Canberra Yacht Club last week. We are hoping to have her on the show in the next few weeks!

The Honourable Kate Lundy, Minister for Sport presenting the Sport Promotion Award last night

On top of all of this (yes it was busy here in the studio!), we chatted live to one of the winners of Yachtswoman of the Year, Nina Curtis of ONLY Racing and of course Randy from Bangin’ the Corners! Fantastic to have them both on the show! Beau of Bangin’ the Corners is of course “Nathan’s brother” – one of the recipients of the Yachtsman of the Year award last night, along with his crew Iain Jensen, as well as Malcolm Page and Mat Belcher, and Tom Slingsby. Yes a three-way tie!

It was great to see so many of our past guests up there taking out awards last night! Of course Liesl Tesch and Dan Fitzgibbon took out the Sailor of the Year with a Disability! What an awesome year for our Sailing Chix with Nix advocate! Matt Allen also presented the SOLAS trusts award, a great cause that we all need to support as sailors.

If you missed the action today, or want to catch up on what we have been getting up to over the past few weeks check out our Past Shows page. Today’s show should be up in the next few days!

As for next week, well we have interviews with Phil Jones, CEO of Yachting Australia, and we were also lucky enough to catch up with Victor Kovalenko the medal-maker himself! These interviews and more from the 16 footer States, the Farr 40′s and a number of development programs are all happening next week!

Massive thanks to those who chatted with us last night and today! Until next Saturday, enjoy the southerly stream this weekend, and look forward to talking sailing with you next Saturday from 8am EST!

Listen to the Show:

Melissa Yeomans

Thank you Huey!

Yesterday I spent the day on the MHYC start boat with a fantastic team including my Dad at the MHYC Sound Championships.   The breeze however made it for one of my more interesting days on the water.    Talk about shifts!  We all know that Westerlies in Middle Habour make for interesting sailing and testing conditions.  The shifts really are affected by the hill and can swing over 50 degrees on a regular basis.  So setting course is difficult and really hurts the brain.

Then throw in the fact that half way through the day the breeze decided to do a 180 and come in from the EAST!!!   Thankfully Dad finished the boats whilst I liaised with RIBS to arrange a new course so we could do it as fast as possible to get enough races in to have a series result.   There was not much time to rest for the 5 of us on the start boat.  Let alone get in some lunch!

With 5 short races and a fleet of Optimists and 420’s it was great to have a good team to work with on the start boat who knew what they were doing.  There really were no breaks between the starts and finishes!  Especially as the 420’s needed a couple of General Recalls.

Photos when I had the opportunity

to take them are here

I was very impressed with the majority of the fleet.  It is fantastic to see so many young sailors thank the start team as they finished the last race.  Some even thanking us in between races.   There needs to be more of this to encourage more volunteers like us to spend their day on the water supporting our next generation of Aussie Sailors.
Right now I could not be more proud of Australian Sailing.  Olympics, America’s Cup, Melges 24, Moths and much more are showing how good and how strong and varied Australian Talent is right now.

It is true.  Aussie Sailors Rock!