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Nicola Wakefield Evans writes, 'Last Sunday, we participated in the 5th race of the Sydney Harbour Women's Keelboat Series, which incorporated the Helly Hansen Women's Challenge, hosted by the Manly Yacht Club. This series comprised races hosted by CYCA, RANSA, MHYC, and RSYS. Yachts could compete in divisions based on all-female crews or female helms, with options for both spinnaker and non-spinnaker categories.



The Helly Hansen Women’s Challenge has been run by the Manly Yacht Club for many years. It is a 2 day event involving one-design sailing on Day 1 and keelboat racing on Day 2. I skippered Whistling Kite in the Female Helm, Spinnaker Division 1.

We had an excellent start from Sow & Pigs, navigating a tight reach to Grotto Point. Since it was a reaching race, we utilized our lovely Assy spinnaker for all the spinnaker legs. Our crew comprised two female graduates, Susy Benjamin from the RSYS LOTS program and Nina Murray from the CYCA Women's Program, along with Pru Bennett from RPAYC, Renny Chivunga (who sails on Viva La Vita from RSYS), and my husband Kym Evans and son Riley.



The race proved to be one of our best performances in this series over the past five years, with a bustling harbour requiring constant attention to dodge container ships, ferries, and numerous fleets of young sailors around Manly, Balmoral, and Rose Bay. We finished 5th out of 12 yachts in Division 1, while Division 2 saw 21 yachts competing.



Notable performances from RSYS yachts in Division 2 included Genovefa skippered by Genevieve Slattery, placing 7th, Lively helmed by Sophie Nelson in 8th place, Anemology with Kim Ketelby coming 11th, and Andiamo skippered by Kirsten Reblin finishing 16th.'

See the results

See more photos by Margaret Fraser-Martin here