Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club Championship Heat 4 & 5
by Adam Lucius 25 Nov 2025 07:05 GMT
25 November 2025
Zoe Dransfield is keeping one eye on the present and one on the future as she juggles a busy schedule of racing, coaching and title chasing.
The Red Pumps Red skipper made another major statement at the weekend, piloting the boat to consecutive wins in the fourth and fifth heats of the Manly 16ft Skiff club championship.
It was the perfect hit-out for Dransfield and crew Hugh and Jamie Stodart as they prepare for the final three heats of the NSW 16ft Championships this weekend, all the while ticking off the days until the national titles in early January.
When she's not in the harness, Dransfield can usually be found at the club overseeing the junior sailing program - specifically the Flying 11s - in her role as the skiff club's head coach (for the junior division). It's a hectic schedule but she wouldn't have it any other way.
"We had a great day out. It was super light and shifty and pretty tricky and we definitely never felt as fast as we would in flat water," Dransfield said after recording back-to-back wins in the club championship.
"There was lots of 'chopping wood' and going super slow through the swell, but our speed compared to other boats was really good. "We're really happy with how we're going but we're definitely not putting pressure on ourselves.
"We still have so much to learn before Nationals so keen to head down to St George for the States this weekend and get some more big fleet practice - especially our starts."
Dransfield benefitted from Manly's junior program as she was coming through the ranks and is rapt to be able to repay the favour now though coaching.
She said: "It's like a full circle moment and brings me back to my junior sailing. It's been really rewarding to see how much they've improved this season and last season.
"It's pretty busy and I'm going down to Manly at least four times a week at the moment for coaching and my own sailing, but I thoroughly enjoy working with the young sailors and love how receptive they are to coaching."
Red Pumps 13s sailor Jemma Hopkins is also doing her bit as lead coach for the Manly Juniors, ably assisted by the likes of Ash Napper, Tayla Lees and Lachy Jansen
The quartet coached last Saturday morning, prepping sailors for the Manly Junior state titles before sailing their own races that afternoon. It's all part of a club-run program to support youth sailors in gaining their coaching qualifications.
Despite Red Pump Reds' club championship success last weekend, four-time club championship winner Daniel Turner quietly moved into first spot on the series pointscore on the back of a sixth and a second. And he is liking what he's seeing from his boat.
"Me, (and crewmates) Gus (Williams) and Matt (Stenta) are in a good space. We have been sailing together for a long time and there's a lot of autonomous sailing between the three of us. "It's to the point where we've shuffled our crew positions around to put Matt on the sheet and Gus in the bow as a bit of an experiment to say 'hey, we're really comfy where we are, let's try this'.
"We might not be doing the time on the water like others are, but what we do have is experience and we've just got to use that card and try to find some small gains."
In the handicap/crews trophy Aristocrat (Tom Cameron/ Daryl Milham/Liam Karunaratne) were the big movers with back-to-back wins.
And in the 13s, Harken (Heidi Bates and Orlando Sadlik) retained its dominance with a double win, while the newly-badged Imagine Signage (Beau Dransfield/ David Tulk) - formerly QED - claimed the handicap double.
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