My name is Zoe Dransfield, I’m 16 years old and currently in year 11 at Manly Selective. My sailing journey began in 2012 in Manly Juniors, where I spent two years crewing. My skipper and I spent every race capsized at the back of the fleet, but we were always singing and laughing.
From there, I began skippering my own MJ, while also crewing a Flying 11 at the same time with my brother Jesse skippering. In our second year, we won the Flying 11 nationals in 2016 at Belmont. This regatta was the first time that I had ever experienced being one of the leaders. I then moved on to steer the Flying 11 and in my third season, became the first all-girl team to win the National Championships, which were held at Port Stephens.
Last season, in my final year of Flying 11’s, I was also skippering a 29er with my elder brother Jesse on the trapeze. However, my focus was more on winning the Flying 11’s. After this was achieved, there was no doubt that I would go into the intensely competitive international 29er class where I have been lucky enough to find a fantastic crew Maddy McLeay. We keep our boat at Middle Harbour YC and sail at least twice a week throughout the winter.
We have our first significant regatta - the 29er Open World Championships - to be held in Gdynia, Poland in less than a week, where we aim to improve our skills as a team. As this will be our first overseas regatta, both Maddy and I are incredibly excited to meet the other sailors and can’t wait to sail against them. I am most looking forward to representing Australia in such an incredibly large fleet of more than 165 boats.
This coming season I am looking forward to nationals and youth nationals where we will be able to put everything we’ve learnt and practised against all the Australian 29ers to represent Australia at the next ISAF Youth Worlds in Brazil in December 2020.
Last Modified on 28/07/2019 21:32