Case Study - RFBYC

Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club

Commodore: Gary McNally

Key contact: Grant Alderson – Coaching Development Officer – grant.aldreson@rfbyc.asn.au

What SheSails activities does your club run? 

We have a Women’s Keelboat Squad, which includes weekly sailing during summer, Women’s Twilight Sailing, a 1-day event for over 18s, a 2-day event for under 18s, Thursday morning Women’s Keelboat sailing and a women’s only AS Spinnaker course

How did you initiate the activities?

We started by advertising through the club’s media channels to promote the programs and to engage the coaching and administration departments to run them. This varied from dinghies right up to keelboats.

What have the results of the activities been?

The results for the club have been fantastic and we have been well supported in raising the profile of women in the sport of sailing. We see many of these women coming through the programs going on to crew and sail with other club members.

Did you have any challenges along the way?  

No more challenges than any other event or program

How do you promote your activities?  

We went directly to club members via email, our club social media channels, we set up a squad mailing lists and we relied on word of mouth.

What resources did you require?

The main requirements were admin staff to promote and advertise the programs and a coaching team to run the sessions.

What impact is it having on participation at your club?

They have had a great impact with many more females participating in keelboat events. It has raised awareness of the fact that sailing is a great sport for females of all ages.