Mooloolaba Yacht Club Women’s Keelboat Regatta Hits the River, July 25 - 26

Now in its 8th year, the national award-winning Women’s Keelboat Regatta has attracted female sailors from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Portland Yacht Club, Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club and Mooloolaba Yacht Club. 

This hotly contested sailing event will be held on the Mooloolah River from July 25 to 26 with a squad of cracking sailors who will be competing on the Mooloolaba Yacht Club’s fleet of Elliot 6 keelboats.

On Friday afternoon, there will be a fun ‘Battle for the Bubbles’ with the serious racing taking place over the weekend. Racing is an ‘around the buoys’ event, with Qualifying Round Robins on Saturday in the River followed by Bronze, Gold & Silver Fleet Finals on Sunday.If conditions permit, Finals racing will take place in Mooloolaba Bay.

Mooloolaba Women’s Keelboat Regatta - Mark Dowsett

Kristie Lee, Regatta Committee Chairperson, Mooloolaba Yacht Club states, “A testament to the popularity of this event is how quickly it sold out within only a couple of days of opening entries.”

“We have sailors racing who have competed at national and international levels as well as those who have only recently taken up the sport. 

“It’s a great weekend combining competitive spirit with camaraderie and fun” Ms Lee said, who is also racing with Team Orange and is hoping to defend their first-place title in 2026. 

Find great spectator viewing from The Wharf precinct and Penny Lane and look for us in Mooloolaba Bay if we’re not in the River on Sunday.

This regatta has grown out of the Mooloolaba Yacht Club’s successful Women’s Skills Development program. Which provides pathways for women to build racing, cruising and skippering skills in a traditionally male-dominated sport.

The Mooloolaba Women’s Keelboat Regatta is run in association with SheSails, an Australian Sailing campaign running in yacht clubs across Australia to increase women’s participation in the sport of sailing. 

For details: www.mooloolabayachtclub.com.au

WORDS: Mooloolaba Yacht Club

PICTURES: Mark Dowsett