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If you were near the club or out on the bay over the weekend, you would have witnessed a spectacular sight with Opti sails everywhere. RQYS was proud to host the 2025 Queensland State Optimist Championships and we couldn’t be prouder of our RQYS Youth Sailors. They demonstrated incredible determination, resilience and sportsmanship throughout the event. RQYS had an impressive representation with 5 Green, 5 Intermediate and 14 sailors Open sailors. This meant 24 of the 50 sailors competing at the QLD State titles were from RQYS – a fantastic achievement!
Saturday brought stronger winds and the Moreton Bay chop, creating excellent racing conditions for the Open and Intermediate fleets. Unfortunately, after one race, our Green Fleet sailors had to return to shore for warm showers, a sausage sizzle and ice blocks to recharge. Despite the challenging conditions, we were impressed by their resilience, as they returned earlier on Sunday to complete four races. The friendships formed on the playground over the weekend will undoubtedly set these young sailors up for a long and enjoyable sailing journey.
2025 QLD Open Champion, Josh Dale with 2026 Green Fleet Champion Hamish King.
We were excited to celebrate the achievements sailors who represented RQYS over the weekend:
- Green Fleet – Hamish King claimed first place, closely followed by Max von Bibra in second place. These two boys dominated the racing all weekend.
- In the Intermediate fleet, several of our sailors were racing in their first Intermediate regatta after stepping up from Green Fleet, proudly finishing in the top half of the fleet.
- The Open fleet was dominated by RQYS sailors, showcasing the hard work and training they’ve put in. Jack McGuire secured first place, Samuel Darbyshire took third place and Harriet Behrens was recognised as first girl (overall 4th). Impressively, 8 of the top 10 sailors in the Open fleet were from RQYS.
- We represented well for the Age Champions as well:
- 9-year-old – Naomi von Bibra
- 11-year-old– Alex Walker
- 12-year-old – Jack McGuire
Retired Opti Sailors Josh Dale and Harrison Woodforth giving back to the Green fleet sailors.
A big thank you to last year’s QLD Opti Open Champion, Josh Dale, for taking the time to chat with and assist the Green Fleet sailors as they returned to shore and packed up on Sunday. It’s truly wonderful to see our “retired Opti sailors” giving back to the younger generation and their efforts are genuinely appreciated by the sailors.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the volunteers, coaches, the Sailing Office, the Sailing Academy and parents for their incredible support of the sailors over the weekend. Events like these are only possible because of the wonderful community we have here at RQYS.
Open fleet start.
As always wonderful photos have been taken by Mike Middleton (Spikey) and are available at this link. The young sailors and parents loved seeing the images on the TVs around the club over the weekend.
It was a fantastic two days of racing and an invaluable opportunity for our sailors to gain experience ahead of the Nationals in January. We wish all our Opti sailors heading to Tasmania for the Nationals the very best of luck.
All photos taken with credit to Mike Middleton.
