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Tasmania’s all-women crew. skippered by Hobart yachtswoman Dianne Barkas, has finished second in the IRC handicap division of the Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta, sailed on Melbourne’s Port Phillip over the long weekend.

The women, members of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, Derwent Sailing Club and Bellerive Yacht Club, sailed the chartered Victorian Sydney 38 Scarlet Runner to line honours in all six races and also placed third overall in the AMS division.

A fleet of 21 yachts, ranging from a Thompson 7 sports to an ocean racer and crewed by 150 women sailors from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, contested the 19th regatta specifically for women conducted by the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron.

Top Gun,  skippered by Erin Peters and helmed by Anne Antrecht, dominated the results, winning all three handicap divisions, including taking first place on corrected time in five of the six heats under the international IRC handicap.

Winds varied from a 5-8 knot northerly on the opening day to a gusty 18-25 knot westerly on the final day, described by Dianne Barkas as “challenging”.

The Tasmanian crew showed excellent heavy weather sailing skills in carrying a shy spinnaker to the final of the final race, with the westerly gusting across the bay under leaden skies at 25 knots. 

On corrected IRC times, Scarlet Runner notched up four seconds, a third and a seventh place to place second overall. In the AMS division Scarlet Runner finished third overall with placings under this handicap system were 4-6-4-3-3-2.

“It’s been a marvellous regatta, with a wide variety of competition and weather conditions, but we managed to take line honours in all six races, although today was very challenging,” Dianne Barkas said after final results were announced at Monday night’s prizegiving.

“We were glad we had ten girls on board for the last race,  with the wind freshening to 16-22 knots and while many boats elected not carry spinnakers,  we were able to fly a small kite without any problems.”

“A lot of the girls did not carry spinnakers in the final race, but we handled a smaller kite well on the Sydney 38, although the finish was a very, very shy reach to the line,” Dianne added.

Other members of the crew of Scarlet Runner were Danielle McKay, Heather McCallum, Colleen Darcy, Noni Walters, Sally Rattle, Gemma Meincke, Lauren Davison, Louise Jackson and Caroline Walker. 

In addition to Scarlet Runner, Tasmanian women Lisa Guy, Liz Buchanan and Danielle Polita sailed in the crew of the Victorian yacht Executive Decision, an Adams 10, which finished just one point behind Scarlet Runner in the AMS division.  Executive Decision sailed an excellent series with placings of 2-3-3-2-7-9, beating Scarlet Runner on corrected time in race four under AMS handicaps.

1. In Adelaide,  Tasmanian skipper Peter Bingham and his crew from the RYCT finished 9th overall under PHS handicaps in the J24 Asia-Pacific Championships, including twice placing third in the seven heat series. Bingham placed 16th on scratch in the 20-boat international fleet won by West Australian Sean Wallis.