In addition to her ‘desk’ job, Julia is on the water for Couta Boat and OTB racing as much as possible, so decided to embark on Race Officer Accreditation. Accreditation involves attending a seminar, passing the Race Officer exam and then practising and developing at events to become competent to pass a performance assessment at an event at the required level.
Julia had two successful performance assessments at the Lady Skippers race and again running the Division 2 Couta Boat Nationals in Queenscliff, which was the final part of the process. Last weekend’s two day event saw everything thrown at her – strong tides, inconsistent winds to changes of wind direction. Julia passed the assessment with flying colours.
Julia’s advice to other women who want to be Race Officers?
- Be prepared to step out of your comfort zone;
- Prepare thoroughly for all possible scenarios, but equally be ready to throw all of that out the window when things change; and
- Keep communication calm and consistent. Ask for lots of input from everyone – make this a team event.
Julia credits the assistance of Sailing Manager Ben Fels, and Race Officers Peter Osbourne and John Philpot at the Club for being incredibly supportive of her development and training, and she is looking forward to more females joining her on her pathway.
Congratulations Julia!
Deb Kwasnicki
General Committee
