2014 Ocean Girls- The Business of Sailing

How does one combine a passion for your chosen sport with a professional career?
Ask Sue Bumstead who has travelled the path of recreational sailing leading her into sailmaking and marine trimming, establishing her own business Custom Yacht Covers (CYC) in 2013. Sue’s company has come on board this year as sponsor of the 2014 ORCV Women Skippers & Navigators Race (WSNR) - a double celebration with Sue now in her second year in her own marine trimming business and the Ocean Girls running their second WSNR event.

In this interview, Sue recounts a shaky start in sailing which later became a passion and has lead her into a career in the sailing industry.

Getting into sailing…..
Growing up my family were members of Somers Yacht Club, sailing Mirrors and 125’s. The first time I went out on the water was with dad in the family Mirror in what I thought was terrifying conditions and didn’t get on another boat for another twenty years.
Later, whilst living in Port Douglas in Far North Queensland, a high school friend who sailed every Wednesday continually invited me along to sail, but memories from that first time kept me saying ‘no’. It was only when a mutual friend came to visit and a Wednesday twilight sail was planned that I got on board and after that I rarely missed an opportunity.
My experience of racing to this time was Wednesday Afternoon Gentleman‘s Sailing (WAGS) in the unique FNQ style, very casual, very social and not too serious. Then my skipper and local sailmaker Mal Richardson invited me to crew in the Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island Race Week regattas. What a revelation! Although I was overly social during the regattas and partied more hours than I sailed, sleeping on the rail while the boat went from tack to tack…. it was the turning point that changed my life.

Getting into the “business” of sailing…
Back in Port Douglas, Mal Richardson pressed me into working in his sail loft and doing my sailmakers apprenticeship whilst mother to four children. I then moved the family to Valencia Spain and worked in a sail loft in the home city of the then America’s Cup challenge. After a year in Spain and still not being able to speak the language I decided to move to Melbourne, knowing that there was a strong group of women sailors, ocean racing to be done, start lines with as many boats as Hamilton Island Race Week and the bonus of a Sydney 38 one design fleet. I joined the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV), the best ocean racing club in Australia and I have never looked back! 

Working in the sail loft in Valencia

Back to basics…
Like most mature age beginners, I started off on keelboats. Once again on the advice of my skipper – ‘If you want to learn how to sail, get a boat with one sail. When you master that, get one with two!’ I swapped keelboat racing and hotels for a laser and a tent and joined Port Douglas Sailing Club. I never got past the one sail in dinghies.

Sue- the dinghy sailor

Ocean Racing…
Living in FNQ most sailing is done inside the Great Barrier Reef with little opportunity for ocean racing. I met Sally Williams and Rosie Colahan at Port Douglas Yacht Club (PDYC) during the annual Clipper Cup Regattas and later sailed with Rosie and her husband at Hamilton Island Race Week on Ingenue, meeting just about every member of Royal Brighton Yacht Club (RBYC) escaping the Melbourne winter that year.
After I left Spain, the move to Melbourne gave me lots of opportunities for racing and training which I had not had previously. I did my first ocean race - the Melbourne to Hobart Eastcoaster - aboard Ingenue in 2008. Since then I have rarely missed an ORCV ocean race and have also sailed to Sydney, Port Lincoln and most recently from Vanuatu to Melbourne.

Sue- the ocean sailor- Dry White arrives in Hobart

Back to business…
Getting into sailing has lead me on a pathway where my sport has become my business. From the people I have met who have encouraged and mentored me and the opportunities that have come my way, I have been on a voyage of discovery. I love what I do and I do what I love! 

The best parts of sailing…
For me, the best parts of sailing are the people you meet, the lifelong friends you gain, the generosity of the sailing fraternity, the remote places you get to see, the way it doesn’t matter if you are male or female, able or disabled, young or old, novice or experienced…….everyone who sails has ‘the same itch to scratch’.

2013 Women in Sailing Challenge at SYC

Your advice to aspiring women sailors…
Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. For women sailors in Victoria, there are an increasing number of events available to step up and develop your racing skills. The ORCV Women Skippers & Navigators Race is a great introduction to longer distance sailing and I am delighted that Custom Yacht Covers is sponsoring the forthcoming 2014 event.
I look forward to seeing you at Geelong and good luck!

For further information go to CYC on board for ORCV WSNR