The latest updates from Australian Sailing's General Manager – Victoria – Rod Austin

Please click this link to find a copy of all past Victoria General Managers Updates

Welcome to the October 2026 Victorian GM Update and wishing all our Victorian sailing clubs celebrating Opening Day’s this month a fantastic start to the new season.

1. Australian Sailing Awards - Five Victorians in the Running for National Sailing Honours

Congratulations and Good Luck to the five Victorian finalists at the 2026 Australian Sailing Awards Friday 30 October 2026. Click Here for all the Australian Sailing finalists.

Club of the Year – Category A Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron

Instructor of the Year Ian Fox – Royal Yacht Club of Victoria

Official of the Year Paul Pascoe – Royal Brighton Yacht Club

SheSails Award - Ocean Racing Club of Victoria

Sport Professional Award Melissa Warren – Mornington Yacht Club

2.Women at the Helm in 2026-2027

It’s fantastic to see so 15 women as Commodores of Victorian sailing clubs this season. Congratulations also to all those women that were commodores previously and apologies if I have missed any current Female Commodores below as Australian Sailing gets our data from Revsport.

2026 SheSails International Conference Monday 19 October at 7:00pm (AEDT). The online Conference is free to attend, register now and join us! Click Here

3.Coaching, Clubs and Classes – Working Together for Victorian Sailing

It has been fantastic to see the momentum building around junior and youth coaching in Victoria, and importantly, the way our clubs, class associations and coaches are increasingly working together to create better opportunities for young sailors.

A great example was the recent coaching camp hosted by Mornington Yacht Club, supported by neighbouring clubs and class associations. Across three huge days, 66 sailors, 11 coaches and four classes – Optimists, ILCAs, 420s and 29ers A highlight off the water was Champions in Conversation with Laura Harding and Casey Imeneo, facilitated by Larry Cargill.

We are also delighted to welcome Craig Cobbin as Victoria's new Performance Pathways Coach, in a joint role between Australian Sailing and Royal Brighton Yacht Club. Craig brings more than 25 years of international coaching experience across youth, Olympic and Paralympic sailing and will be a tremendous addition to Victoria's coaching network.

Perhaps most exciting is what comes next. The Victorian ILCA, 420 and 29er Class Associations, together with Sandringham Yacht Club, Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club, Mornington Yacht Club and Royal Geelong Yacht Club, are joining forces to re-establish the Victorian Long Squad in 2027,

Four winter camps are planned between May and September, providing opportunities for sailors ranging from those developing at club level through to those aspiring to higher-performance pathways.

A huge thank you must go to our clubs and class associations. They are the people organising coaches, venues, volunteers, boats, programs and countless hours behind the scenes. Their willingness to work collaboratively, rather than in isolation, is creating something much bigger for Victorian sailing.

There is plenty more to do, but the direction is exciting. Thank you to everyone helping make it happen.

4. Changes to Working With Children Checks in Victoria. In October 2026

 Victoria is further strengthening the Working with Children (WWC) Check with the introduction of: WWC Connect online service, to help organisations (including sole traders) meet the new legal requirement to notify the SSR about workers and volunteers they engage to work with children and the new mandatory child safety training for people applying for or renewing their WWC Clearance. Click Here for more information plus FYI recent Q&A’s

Q. Does my current working with children’s card continue? Will I have to do a course?

A. If you already hold a valid Working with Children Clearance, it continues until its normal expiry date unless you are advised otherwise by the Social Services Regulator.

Q From a Race Management perspective do I have to do more than see a card from a volunteer?

A. Clubs need to verify, not just sight a WWCC. For people engaged in child-related work, simply asking to see their WWCC card is no longer enough. Clubs must verify the person's current clearance using the Victorian Government WWC Status Checker and retain evidence that the verification has occurred

Q In a club environment where there are adults and children mixing, what more must be done? A. Children and adults participating together at a sailing club does not automatically mean every adult requires a WWCC. Clubs should focus on identifying the people whose roles genuinely constitute child-related work, ensure those people are appropriately screened and verified, and maintain strong Child Safe Standards across the whole club.

5.Clubs Connecting talking participation across Victoria

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in our recent Victorian Club Sailing and Participation Network Meetings at Black Rock Yacht Club, Point Leo Boat Club and Lake Wellington Yacht Club.

These meetings are a great opportunity for neighbouring clubs to come together, share ideas and openly discuss both successes and challenges. Common themes included growing participation, youth pathways, volunteer recruitment, developing instructors and officials, and finding new ways to keep people engaged in sailing.

Importantly, there was a real willingness to collaborate – sharing knowledge, people, programs and ideas rather than clubs tackling challenges alone.

Thank you to Black Rock YC, Point Leo BC and Lake Wellington YC for hosting, and particularly to all the club representatives who gave their time and contributed so positively.

It is this collaboration between our clubs that will continue to strengthen sailing across Victoria.

6.Upcoming Feature Sailing Events – October & November

October

Highlights include Sail Sandy at SYC (17–18 Oct) – Click here; Discover Blokart Land Sailing (17–18 Oct) – Click here; and the Australian Youth Match Racing Championship at RGYC (22–25 Oct) – Click here. Also coming up are Keelboat Range Series, ), Trailable Traveller Series – Click here; the Melbourne to Devonport Rudder Cup (30 Oct–1 Nov) – Click here; International 2.4mR Victorian Championships at GLYC (31 Oct–1 Nov) – Click here; and the J24 Pre-Worlds and World Championships at SYC (31 Oct–11 Nov) – Click here.

November

The Lipton Cup at RYCV (20–22 Nov) – Click here , J70 Victorian Championship at BYS (20–22 Nov) – Click here. Victorian ILCA States at SYC (21–22 Nov) – Click here; The month finishes withSail Melbourne at RBYC (26–29 Nov) – Click here; the Cairn Curran Regatta (28–29 Nov) – Click here; and Victorian Women’s Keelboat Series Race 1 – Shirley Freeman Trophy at HBYC (29 Nov).

View all events on the VIC Calendar - Click Here