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More than 40 women from round the world racers and ocean cruisers to dinghy sailors and those with little or no sailing experience enjoyed the fifth annual Women on Water weekend recently.
WOW is run by Great Escape and is a popular way for women to participate in a sailing event in the beautiful Bay of Islands.
Sailors are encouraged to stretch themselves. For some, this means stepping up to the role of skipper for the first time or completing successful winch-handle overboard manoeuvres, for others taking a turn at the helm and learning the basics of sail trim is a new challenge.
The objective is to make it easy for women who want to sail to come together to share and learn in a safe and fun environment.
One woman had never been on a boat before but many had participated in a WOW weekend before.
They all gathered at the Opua Cruising Club on the Friday night when skippers, boats and crews were allocated. Teams had fun constructing newspaper masts and playing a word game to get to know everyone.
Saturday morning dawned with clear blue skies and enough wind for sailing. The flotilla of 10 boats nearly all got away on time then headed down the Veronica Channel, through both sets of channel marks, around Brampton Buoy and Paramena Reef to finish up in Otaio Bay on Urupukapuka Island. A feast and prizegiving was held on shore.
Some crews managed to rise early Sunday morning for the meteorite shower but everyone gathered on shore later in the morning for a walk and chance to appreciate the beautiful birdsong on the island (thanks to Project Island Song’s successful mahi).
By late morning anchors were hoisted and the flotilla was underway, however, the sail home was a little slow and many resorted to the iron spinnaker.
The comments from participants shared on Facebook and Instagram illustrate the fun the group had.
- “Still buzzing over the amazing weekend we had!!”
- “Such a glorious weekend. WOW in so many ways.”
- “Whoop whoop, thanks Julie for another fabulous WOW weekend. They just keep getting better.”
Thanks to sponsors Burnsco Opua and Seaglass Pacifica for the WOW prizes.
