Progressing with a plan in Australia

Increasing participation in sailing is a popular topic, and one being pursued in Australia as they release their second annual Participation Report. Led by the national federation Australian Sailing, the document details the results of their work partnering with Sailing Clubs, Class Associations, and Discover Sailing Centres.

With participation targets outlined in their 10-year Strategy, “SAILING 2032”, the Participation Report sits alongside their Strategic Plan Status Report as key documents in keeping stakeholders updated on the work being done to drive participation and ensure more people get on the water, in more ways, more often.

Here’s an update by Australian Sailing:
Guided by our Participation and Membership plan, we are working with our partners at Clubs, Classes and Discover Sailing Centres to meet participation targets as outlined in the Strategic Plan (including 300,000 participants, 150,000 club members, 50% female participation and 25,000 course participants per annum).

Some of the highlights of this year’s report include:

• Second consecutive year of Club Membership growth
• Growth in female participation from 33% to 35%
• 42% female enrollments in Discover Sailing courses
• 16.8% growth in Coaching Program participation

The growth in Club Participation Programs is particularly pleasing, and we encourage Clubs who aren’t yet involved to contact your local Australian Sailing Club Support team to find out more about the programs and how they can be used as a membership growth and membership retention strategy.

We would like to highlight the work being done at Southport Yacht Club in Queensland and Newcastle Yacht Club in New South Wales who registered the most participants in 2024. Congratulations, thank you and keep up the great work.

Australian Sailing would like to thank the many volunteers and staff at our Clubs, Classes and Discover Sailing Centres who have partnered with us to deliver the results outlined in this report.

Please note that the reported numbers for 2023 are different to those in the 2023 Participation Report, with the last report’s 2023 numbers covering the 2022/23 Financial Year and this year’s report covering the 2023 Calendar year.

To view documents:
• 2024 Participation Report
• Strategic Plan