2025 Australian Sailing Awards - Sport Promotion Award: Sailing's Community Champions

Sport Promotion Award 2025 © Australian Sailing

Three events that positively promoted sailing in the community headline the Sport Promotion Award at the 2025 Australian Sailing Awards.

Geographe Bay Race Week (WA), Making Waves Foundation (NSW/ACT), and Vioda - Leah Keh (VIC) have all made invaluable contributions to sailing.

The nation's peak sailing awards will be held at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney on Friday, November 14.

Finalists:

Geographe Bay Race Week (WA)

Geographe Bay Race Week (GBRW) is Western Australia's premier sailing regatta and a much-anticipated event among the sailing fraternity. Competitors, spectators, family and friends come together to enjoy the festival atmosphere of the events on-water and off-water schedule.

GBRW saw an increase from 43 boats in 2023 to 72 boats in 2024, A huge increase with over 480 direct participants (plus family and friends) competing across six divisions. In 2025 we saw another increase in participation with 83 Boats registering.

Participants and their supporters enjoyed a lively social schedule, both supporting Geographe Bay Yacht Club and local food and beverage sponsors, along with businesses within the City of Busselton and Margaret River Region.

The main focus of the event was bringing the fun back with an expanded outdoor area set up to cater for the additional influx of visitors. Geographe Bay Race Week is starting to gain some attraction from interstate sailors keen to attend future events. Planning and preparation is already under way for 2026, in order to capitalise on this year's positive outcomes and community sentiment.

In 2025, the event continued to build its reputation, drawing high-calibre competitors and delivering a tourism and economic boost to the Busselton region. This strategic campaign achieved significant reach through national media, local press, social media, and sailing community networks.

The marketing strategy for GBRW 2025 delivered substantial media value, with feature stories and updates published by leading sailing news platforms, local newspapers, tourism partners, radio broadcasters, and digital influencers. This widespread exposure not only raised the event's profile, but also promoted Busselton as a sailing and lifestyle destination to both national and international audiences.

Geographe Bay Race Week 2025 attracted broad and consistent coverage across local, state, national, and international channels. Media interest spanned print, digital, radio, television, and social platforms, amplifying Busselton's status as a premier sailing and event destination.

Making Waves Foundation (NSW/ACT)

Making Waves Foundation (MWF) is a nationally recognised not-for-profit organisation that uses sailing as a transformative tool to promote inclusion, resilience, and empowerment for young Australians living with disability or experiencing disadvantage.

MWF has significantly advanced the profile of sailing in Australia, broadening its reach and relevance through strategic program delivery, impactful media exposure, and genuine community engagement.

MWF delivered sailing days across Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne, Geelong, Brisbane, Hobart, Townsville, Rosslyn Bay, Bundaberg and Cairns through its core programs: Winds of Joy, Winds of Change and Wright of Passage.

These events, while not competitive races, are significant for their scale, reach, and impact — enabling more than 5,000 participants, many of whom live with profound physical, intellectual, or socio-economic challenges, to experience sailing in a meaningful, safe, and empowering way.

The Northern Campaign is an ambitious outreach program that takes MWF's fleet and volunteer crew on a three-month journey along the Queensland coast, connecting with regional and remote communities, schools, and disability organisations.

MWF returned to the Hobart Campaign delivering 24 sails to nearly 300 participants in February 2025. By bringing sailing to locations where opportunities are rare, MWF actively promoted the sport as inclusive, accessible, and life-changing. These activities were not only well attended but also highly visible, thanks to strategic partnerships with local councils, schools, and disability networks.

Through storytelling and community partnerships, MWF has repositioned sailing as an inclusive activity that builds confidence, resilience, and teamwork in some of Australia's most vulnerable populations. MWF's vessels are designed to support people of all ability, including up to four wheelchairs per vessel and raised stanchions for safer movement from stern to bow.

MWF continues to build pathways for individuals with disability into mainstream sailing clubs and activities. Many participants have gone on to join sailing schools, local clubs, or volunteer programs, building a more inclusive future for the sport. In addition, MWF's volunteer workforce of over 300 sailors helps bridge the gap between the broader sailing community and those experiencing disadvantage, fostering ongoing engagement and advocacy.

Vioda - Leah Keh (VIC)

The Victorian International Optimist Dinghy Association (VIODA) was active in developing and promoting the junior Optimist dinghy class, the boys and girls who sail Optimists, and the community which supports and follows the class.

VIODA organised an extensive program of coaching, regatta participation and overseas programs this season.

Two of the more notable events were the 2025 Victorian State Championships at Sorrento in March and 2024 Sail Melbourne.

The VIODA Winter Coaching Program based at Albert Sailing Club sailed 10 Sunday afternoon sessions in the winter months. There were an average of 50 participants per week in Open, Intermediate and Green Fleet groups.

The Optimist Girls Camp weekend in September had 21 participants and across the Winter Coaching Program, there were onshore sessions for parents and other supporters including Buy/Swap/Sell markets, sailing gear for junior sailors, and Mothers and Fathers Day afternoon teas.

Another highlight was the VIODA exchange program with the Chinese Yachting Association, and gear support provided to the Manado Team in Indonesia.

Six Intermediate level junior sailors from Victoria, a manager and a coach participated as invited guests of the Chinese Association in the Qingdao International Training Camp and Regatta, with Optimists from Australia, Asian and European countries. As part of the reciprocal arrangement four Chinese Optimist sailors travelled to Melbourne in April 2025 as guests of VIODA for the Victorian Youth Championships and preceding Training Camp.

The VIODA group of junior sailors and parents to travel to the 2025 Qingdao International Regatta has been selected.