News
General Manager - Western Australia Update December 2025
Published Wed 03 Dec 2025
The latest updates from Australian Sailing's General Manager - Western Australia - Kate Wearn
Please click this link to find all past WA General Manager's Updates.
General Update
Welcome to the December update, from the Western Australian office.
On behalf of the WA Team, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all of our valued Clubs, Discover Sailing Centres and Associations a safe and happy festive season, and provide a brief update and thanks to round out 2025.
Following a successful Zhik Youth Sail WA and WA Sailing Awards, Jade, Tait and I hit the ground, visiting a number of Clubs locally and in the regions to celebrate Opening Days, and conduct Club visits and DSC reviews. We greatly value the invitation to attend Club Opening Days, and thank our Clubs very much for including our team in these important events. We are still tracking towards our goal of 100% Club visitation in 2025/26, and look forward to visiting those we are yet to see, for a chat and handover of a coveted Australian Sailing flag and sticker soon.
The past couple of months also saw the selection of nine WA finalists for the Australian Sailing Awards, which were held in mid-November in Sydney. It was an hour to celebrate this evening with our WA representatives, all of whom were winners in our eyes. It was especially exciting to see Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club Awarded Club of the Year Category A, along with members Zoe Thomson (Female Sailor of the Year) and Rob Hubbard (Official of the Year), take home the accolades on the night.
Highlights from 2025
- Tait joining the team in February, to complete our WA Support Team.
- The ongoing delivery and eventual completion of the Discover Sailing Next Level Activation Project in June, in which we saw a 13% increase in participation across the targeted, partner DSCs.
- The delivery of four Sailing Summit Roadshow events in Albany, Bunbury, Perth and Exmouth, reaching 80 people (45 in Perth, 35 across the regions).
- Maylands Yacht Club accredited as a Discover Sailing Centre, and taking delivery of their fleet of brand-new Tackers Optis.
- Welcoming Australian Sailing team members from across the country, to collaborate and support our team in the office, and practically out with our Clubs, DSCs and Associations.
- The success of the SailLAB STEM program, led by Jessica Lundh. It has been exciting to see the impact SailLAB has had in WA, watch this space as Jess takes the program national and we see the rise of this WA-developed program.
- A big week at the end of September, delivering Zhik Youth Sail WA to 160 sailors across the Coaching Clinic and WA Youth Championships, followed by the WA Sailing Awards, attended by 130 guests, at Nedlands Yacht Club.
- Delivery of Instructor, Coach and Officials training, with the final course scheduled for 19 and 20 December.
It has been a fantastic year, full of challenges, success, promise for the future and great interactions with our Clubs, Associations and DSCs. Thank you for everyone we have worked with in 2025, we look forward to continuing to work with you all in 2026, and the beginning of new some working relationships.
Personally, I express a huge heartfelt thanks to our local Support Team members, Jade and Tait whom we are all very fortunate to work alongside. Tait and Jade bring passion, expertise and enthusiasm to their roles, and leave every encounter better off from their involvement!
2026 Plans
Planning is well underway for 2026, with important event dates to be finalised and published early next year. We look forward to delivering the Sailing Summit (one metro event), Training In Focus - Live for Instructors and Coaches, the WA Sailing Awards and Zhik Youth Sail.
The 2026 training calendar is set to be finalised soon, with a number of accreditation dates for Coaches, Instructors and Officials.
In addition, we have professional development and networking opportunities planned to support cohorts including Officials, Instructors, Coaches, Administrators, Commodores and Committee Members, Associations and DSC Principals. Targeted and specific communication will be shared, early next year.
Spotlight on Officials
Upon completing the 2024/25 Census for the WA Government, it was pleasing to note the increase in accredited Officials in WA over recent years as follows:
2023: 216
2024: 284
2025: 452
The increase in the reported figures for the past 12 months is likely due to the implementation of the E-Learning, and other initiatives which have significantly reduced barriers to accreditation for Officials. We are working hard locally on continuing to support this group, with further instalments of the WA Volunteers’ and Officials’ Forums scheduled, along with training opportunities, linked to practical assessments.
Learn more on how you can become accredited, either via e-learning for practical training here.
2025 Youth World Championships
The countdown is on for the World Sailing Youth World Championships in Portugal, staring on 12 December.
WA representatives on the 2025 Australian Youth Sailing Team include Imogen Bates and Ashlie Duffield (420 Class) and Alice and Klara Travlos (29er Class), along with Coach Hayley Clark.
This is a prestigious international event where only one team from each class can represent their country, an incredible achievement and an unforgettable experience for these young sailors.
Australian Sailing has set up a Fundraising Project page on the Australian Sports Foundation website, where the sailing community can support the team by making a tax-deductible donation which will contribute directly to the team’s attendance. Please view the page here for more information, and to donate: https://asf.org.au/.../2025-australian-youth-sailing...
Or for individual team pages: https://asf.org.au/campaigns/imogen-bates and https://asf.org.au/campaigns/alice-and-klara-travlos.
We wish all Australian sailors the very best for this incredible opportunity.
Opportunities for youth sailors in 2026 are now open for, including the following:
Or for coaches – Coach EOI for 2026 Youth Worlds and 2026 Australian Sailing National Youth Squad Roles.
Department of Transport Update
A reminder that theWA Coastal Calendar for the 2025/26 season has been approved, with all information available on the webpage here.
Clubs operating in Fremantle Ports Waters have been contacted separately, to ensure the lines of communication are open between the Harbourmasters Office, and the Clubs conducting events. Please speak to Kate or Jade for more information on this topic.
The Department of Transport exemptions for the next two years have been approved, a copy is available here. The current exemptions are applicable to all participating in events, recognised and approved by the Swan River Racing and Coastal Calendar process.
We thank Clubs for their ongoing cooperation, to ensure the timely and accurate sharing of information, which facilitates our ongoing relationship with the Department of Transport and ensures the safety of all activities on the water.
The DoT have shared a feedback form, which can be completed to report incidents and issues on the water. Any near misses, safety concerns, complaints about other water users, etc. can be reported, which will allow the Department to address any concerns or ongoing issues. Please view and complete the form HERE.
Incidents that are contravening a law should be reported via the following: Report a boating or marine incident | Department of Transport.
Sinking or grounded vessels can be reported via the Deckee App, or to Navigational.Safety@transport.wa.gov.au, provided it is not an emergency situation. For emergencies please direct reports to Western Australian Water Police - 08 9480 9924.
Fremantle Traffic Bridge Project - Upcoming Impacts to Navigation Channel Access
The Fremantle Traffic Bridge Team have provided an update regarding the Project to replace the existing traffic bridge. Please note the following, and share with your Club members as appropriate:
The following provides important information regarding impacts to all river users during the next stage of construction.
Cranes will be used to lift large concrete segments and associated materials to build the edge of the new bridge, and this will be followed by removal of the existing bridge.
The safety of river users and workers is a priority as we need to lift some segments over the navigation channel. To carefully manage everyone’s safety during these lifts, there will be intermittent interruption to river traffic. This will involve contraflow vessel management and short closures of one navigation channel (either north or south).
- Closure timings will range from 15 minutes to over two hours (one channel at a time).
- Closure locations will be based on required lifting movements at the time.
- We are continuing to work with river users, including ferries and emergency services, to help manage impacts, where possible.
Navigation channel impacts are expected to start in late October 2025 and continue until November 2026. Importantly:
- Spotter vessels will be placed in suitable locations to capture the attention of vessels approaching the construction site.
- Spotter vessels will be contactable via VHF channel 71.
- Signage (see below) will be displayed at boat ramps along the river and coast boat ramps to reach all users.
- River users are asked to travel slowly and carefully through the area.
Any questions on the above topics please contact the General Manager - WA, Kate Wearn at kate.wearn@sailing.org.au.
We look forward to seeing you on the water, or at your Club soon!
Happy Holidays
The Australian Sailing Offices will be closed from Friday 19 December, reopening on Monday 5 January. Please note that I will be on leave for an additional week, returning on Monday 12 January.
On behalf of the wider team, we wish you all a happy and safe Christmas and New Year. Best of luck and safe travels to all competing over this time.
Thank you all for your support in 2025, we look forward to working with you in 2026.
Wishing you a safe and happy festive season!
We are grateful for the support of the WA Government in delivering events and initiatives. The State government is a major supporter of Australian Sailing in Western Australia. Sport and recreation builds stronger, healthier, happier and safer communities.
Keep in touchAll members of our team areavailable to answer your queries by phone, face-to-face or to meet via Microsoft Teams online.
You can find a full list of Australian Sailing Contacts - here. |
