The 2024 Women At The Helm Regatta (WATH) will be hosted by the National Yacht Club over the weekend of May 24-26.

The event encourages female sailors who may not normally lead, to step up and make the move from crew to helm. The event is open to all female helms from teenagers to seniors, with multiple prizes on offer, and participation is mixed.

The regatta will kick off with a Speaker Supper the evening of Friday, May 24th, with Olympic silver medalist sailor Annalise Murphy (and national road champion cyclist) and Joan Mulloy and moderator, former RTE news anchor, Bryan Dobson.

The regatta is for keelboats and dinghies, with all entrants aged 16+. The event is run  in association with SIA Partners.

The National Yacht Club hosts the 2024 Women At The Helm Regatta on May 24-26

The criteria is for a female to helm all boats, but unlike the previous WATH regattas, the NYC organisers have dropped the requirement for at least 50% of the crew to be female.

There will be one race on Saturday afternoon, which will be the Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) race, and WATH entrants who are not members of DBSC will race in it. Boats entered in DBSC and WATH will be scored in both.

For classes that may have more than one DBSC race (dinghies and Green fleet), only the first race will count towards the WATH regatta.

Former Figaro sailor Joan Mulloy will speak at the 2024 Women At The Helm Regatta

Three races are scheduled for Sunday, followed by prize giving in NYC, including the coveted prize of the Roy Family Perpetual Trophy for best team performance. 

If all four races are sailed there will be one discard. The reality is that not all DBSC boat owners will pass the helm to a non-regular female helm, so if a male helms on Saturday, that race can be discarded, and all three Sunday races counted for WATH.

The Water Wags' second race on Wednesday, May 22nd, will be their single WATH race.

The event will include a female-helmed cruise in company on Sunday, the 26th.

In addition to the Speaker Supper the social activities will include a post-sailing BBQ with live music on Saturday evening, and a BBQ with music and the prize giving on Sunday afternoon.

The Notice of Race and Entry Form is here