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Jo Aleh remembers where it all started - in a wooden Optimist named Blue Lightning at the girls regatta at the Kohimarama Yacht Club.
The two-time Olympic medallist and former Female World Sailor of the Year will return to Kohimarama next weekend for the latest edition of an event that started back in the mid-1960s.
She hopes her presence at the PredictWind Girls Championship Regatta might help inspire some of the young females on hand in the same way Leslie Egnot did when she spoke at what was Aleh's first ever regatta.
Egnot's attendance was significant because she had helmed a team at the 1995 America's Cup, the same event that caught Aleh's attention and prompted her to ask her parents if she could try sailing.
"It meant extra for me to see her there," Aleh said. "I remember she walked past me on the way out after prizegiving and I was like, 'wow'. Seeing Leslie there had a real impact on me so you hope my being there and being a part of it helps someone else."
Aleh will be joined at the girls regatta by new 49erFX partner and fellow Olympic medallist Molly Meech as well as Yachting New Zealand women's sailing manager Jenny Armstrong (who won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics).
Prizes of a coaching session with Olympic medallist Alex Maloney, Olympian and New Zealand SailGP Team member Erica Dawson and Liv Mackay, who is also a member of the New Zealand SailGP Team, are also being handed out.
It's hoped more than 150 sailors compete at the event which, for the first time in the regatta's long history, will be run over two days.
Aleh eventually went on to win her fleet at the girls regatta in subsequent years, such was her talent, but she laughs about her showing at that first event.
"It was pretty windy and, being in a wooden Opti, it was extremely slow," she said. "I wasn't competitive but it showed I could definitely sail.
"Racing with all the girls made me feel like I was a part of the whole group. There were a lot of girls sailing then - it was a really strong time for female sailing - so I never had any doubt I could be competitive and it was the sport for me.
"I used to do the girls regatta every year. It was definitely one of the fun events on the circuit. I think it's a nice reason to get everyone together and just race with the girls. It's fun racing the guys, and you do that for the rest of the year, but it's also cool to have just a bunch of girls out there."
Entries are open until 10pm on Wednesday evening, after which time a late fee might apply, and the first 150 entrants will receive a gift box and regatta singlet.
You can find the notice of race here and online entry form here.
A full refund will be returned if a sailor cannot attend the event due to Covid-19 infection (proof of positive test will be required).
