Flag Officers
Commodore | David Jacobs
David is a retired senior corporate and commercial lawyer with more than 35 years’ experience advising organisations in the tourism, leisure and broader commercial sectors. During his career with the global law firm of Baker McKenzie, he served as Australian Managing Partner, Chairman of Asia Pacific and a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee, gaining extensive experience in strategy, governance, finance and risk management.
Since retiring from legal practice, one of David’s key interests has been sailing and the CYCA. He
has been:
- Chair of the Sailing Committee for the last two years initiating strategies to strengthen the club’s reputation as one of the world’s premier ocean racing yacht clubs including the strategic priorities of pathways, women in sailing, offshore education series (working with MEC), reduction of barriers to race entry and international brand awareness;
- Vice Chair of the Premises Committee for the last two years and a member for 10 years. During
his term he sponsored systems to ensure transparency and alignment of marina berth allocation
with our strategic priorities; - Chair of the Audit, Planning & Risk Committee for 3 years and member for 7 years during which
he oversaw many projects including the amendments to our constitution, the development of a
risk matrix, compliance audits and a 5-year capital projection plan; - Chair of the Member Engagement Committee for two years focusing on how to advance
member benefits.
These roles have allowed him to gain a deep understanding of the club and its culture.
David was elected a director of the CYCA Board in 2018.
David first started sailing Lasers as a member of Woollahra Sailing Club and is now a co-owner of
the Dehler 41 DS, First Light and enjoys competing in our inshore and short offshore programs.
Vice Commodore | Peter Gothard
Peter grew up south of Sydney, sailing flying ants, cherubs and 16ft skiffs at St George Sailing Club, competing in state, national and world titles in these junior classes. After a stint working overseas, Peter began sailing at the CYCA – working his way from inshore racing up to coastal and blue water programs, including five Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races, three of these as navigator.
Peter is currently sailing as navigator on Robert Kelly’s RP52 “Virago” and campaigning his own yacht, “Bullwinkle”.
Peter has been actively involved in the Club since 2017, serving as a Director, Treasurer and Rear Commodore. Peter has chaired the Audit, Planning and Risk Committee for the last two years and served as a member of the Club’s Sailing Committee.
Outside of sailing, Peter is a turnaround and restructuring professional and partner at KPMG.
Peter is keen to continue to contribute to the advancement of the Club and the sport of offshore sailing. He is the owner of a Bull9000, “Bullwinkle” and a Jeanneau 349, “Quicksilver”.
Rear Commodore | Jules Hall
Jules Hall has been actively involved in offshore sailing for more than three decades, combining international racing experience with a strong commitment to growing participation in ocean racing and strengthening the CYCA community.
He has competed in seven Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Races, including winning the inaugural Two-Handed Division in 2021 aboard his J/99 Disko Trooper. Internationally, Jules has competed in four Rolex Fastnet Races, most recently racing double-handed in 2023 and returning in 2025 as offshore strategist aboard Whisper. He is the owner and skipper of Disko Trooper, J/99 Australian Champion and holder of the CYCA Double Handed Pointscore Trophy.
Since joining the CYCA Board in 2022, Jules has served as Treasurer, Chair of the Member Engagement Committee and a member of both the Sailing and Premises Committees.
As Chair of the Member Engagement Committee over the past two years, Jules has worked with fellow committee members and Club staff to introduce a number of initiatives designed to encourage participation and strengthen connections between members. These include establishing Crew Connect, now held twice a year with more than 100 owners and crew attending each event; launching Tales From The Rails, an annual evening celebrating the stories behind the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race; expanding the Rolex Sydney Hobart Crew Party and Commodore’s Ball, each now attracting more than 700 registrations; introducing Offshore Pathway Information Nights in 2026; and establishing the Season Opener to coincide with the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race.
As Treasurer since 2024, Jules has worked closely with the Board and management on the Club’s financial stewardship, supporting investment in member facilities, sailing and the Club’s long-term strategic direction.
Professionally, Jules is the founder and CEO of The Hallway, an independent advertising agency he established in 2007. Jules has worked with many of Australia’s largest organisations on brand strategy, advertising and customer communications.
His commercial background brings experience in financial oversight, strategic planning, marketing and governance to the Board.
Away from offshore racing, Jules has also competed successfully in Laser Masters sailing, winning the NSW and Victorian Apprentice Masters Championships and competing at Laser Masters World Championships. He has also been an active supporter of grassroots sailing, previously serving as Vice Commodore of the Vaucluse Amateur 12 Foot Sailing Club, where he helped grow the club’s sailing school and junior development programs.
Treasurer | Greg Antipas
Greg discovered sailing for the first time in 2000 on a CYCA Wednesday twilight race. He went on to complete sail training courses and started crewing on twilight races and other harbour races. He then took the leap and started offshore racing, competing in three Rolex Sydney Hobarts, a Lord Howe Island race, numerous Sydney Gold races, Sydney Mooloolaba races, Flinders Island races, Bird Island races and Cabbage Tree Island races, as well as other short offshore races.
He has also completed deliveries from Hamilton Island to Sydney and Gold Coast to Sydney. Greg also enjoys cruising, with the Greek islands being a favourite destination. Greg previously was a co-owner of Sydney 38, Obsession, and owner of Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 349, No Doubt.
Greg joined the CYCA in 2003 and has been a Director since 2023. He has been a member of the Premises Committee since 2022 and its Chair since 2024. He has been a member of the Audit, Planning and Risk Committee since 2021 and its Deputy Chair since 2024.
Greg is a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Greg is a member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the NSW Bar Association. He has previously served as Bar Councillor / Director, Chair of the New Barristers’ Committee and member of the Finance Investment and Audit Committee, Education Committee and Wellbeing Committee of the NSW Bar Association. Greg has also served as a Director of Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers.
Greg is a barrister at Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers with his main areas of practice being taxation, commercial and criminal law. Greg was admitted in NSW as a solicitor in 1997 and as a barrister in 2012. He has a Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Master of Laws and Master of Taxation from the University of Sydney. Before coming to the Bar, Greg was a Consultant in Arthur Andersen’s Tax Division, a Manager in Ernst & Young’s Taxation, Banking & Finance Division and an Assistant Fund Manager to unlisted wholesale real estate equity funds at Macquarie Bank.
Directors
Prof. Sarah Hosking
Sarah has over 20 years’ experience working as a CEO and non-executive director. Winner of the 2020 Telstra Businesswoman of the Year (NSW) For Purpose and Social Impact, she achieved Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2009.
In addition to her CYCA Director role, Sarah is also currently Director of the CYCA Sailing Foundation, Deputy Chair of the Member Engagement Committee, and a member of the Audit Planning & Risk Committee.
Sarah is currently CEO of the Cancer Council NSW (CCNSW), having previously held roles as CEO at the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF), Very Special Kids, the Australian College of Optometry and also as the visionary, founder and fundraiser of Aston Academy of Life Sciences Ltd, an award winning design and build hospital that was the first of its kind in Europe.
Sarah has been Board Director, Chair of Risk and Clinical Governance, NHS Complaints Convenor and member of Audit and Risk Committee of a UK National Health Service Trust, Director of the Australian College of Optometry, and Director of the Australian Communities Foundation. She is currently a Professor in the Schools of Medicine and Health at both the University of Sydney and UNSW.
Sarah was invited to join the CYCA Board in 2023 to support its governance processes and felt this was an important opportunity to support the relationship between the local community and the Club. Through its strategic planning process the CYCA has identified sustainability, including governance and financial diversity, as key priorities.
With a focus on new revenue streams, Sarah has worked closely with the Board and management to develop a new revenue strategy for the Club in a process that will see management, the Board and the Foundation, work together to recognise these opportunities. Sarah is ideally positioned to support this work through the implementation phase given her achievements in community-based revenue generation where she has recently been responsible for over 50% revenue growth at both the NBCF and CCNSW, the latter increasing from around $70mpa to $110mpa in just the last 4 years.
The CYCA is a seasoned and internationally recognised leader in offshore sailing that deserves the infrastructure, governance and a sustainable business model to match. Sarah seeks to support the Club through its next phase of growth and development that will underpin its future sustainability and in turn its ongoing role in leading the sailing landscape in Australia and beyond.
Craig Neil
Craig is a passionate sailor and a committed member of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia since 2009. Craig has been a member of the Sailing Committee and previous owner of TP52 Quest, a yacht that has achieved impressive results under his leadership, including 3rd and 5th overall placements in the prestigious Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
In 2024, Quest secured second place in the Pallas Capital TP52 Gold Cup. Craig is also the president of the Australian TP52 Sailing Association, demonstrating his leadership within the sailing community.
Beyond his accomplishments in sailing, Craig has over 30 years of experience in customer experience technology and he currently serves as the Chairman/Director of Customer Driven, a company specialising in AI solutions for corporate and government entities. His entrepreneurial spirit has led him to venture into diverse fields such as childcare, property development, and architectural lighting.
A devoted family man with three children, Craig is deeply connected to his community and has a strong passion for sailing. He believes that his experience in racing TP yachts will bring a fresh perspective and innovative ideas to the racing scene at the Club.
Amanda Cook
Sailing Experience:
Amanda is a lifelong competitive sailor. She owns VIVA, a Young43. She has regularly participated as helmsman and crew in sailing events at CYCA for 20 years on various boats including Volvo 60s, Murray 50s, Farr40s, Sydney 38s, and others, in the inshore and offshore events, including Twilights, Winter, Summer, Short haul, and Ladies Day series.
In her younger years Amanda skippered Flying Ants, 420s, 470s at club, state, national and international levels. She was also a competitive windsurfer and was sponsored by Wayler in the 1980s.
Financial Experience:
Amanda is a Senior Private Banker with Macquarie Bank, having been at Macquarie for 26 years and in the industry for over 30 years. Her responsibilities include strategic financial planning and investment advice to clients across their variety of entities.
Amanda is also a Chartered Accountant and previously worked in Mergers & Acquisitions at Ernst & Young, in Audit at Deloitte Haskins and Sells. She is a Fellow of the Finance Institute and has recently been recognized as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. This signifies that the adviser or executive has met strict criteria for knowledge, ethics, and sustained professionalism in the financial services sector.
She has also worked in London as a Financial Controller in the hospitality industry for a chain of wine bars, and clubs.
Her other current extracurricular activity includes the finance committee of another prominent club, holding the Chair and Treasurer of various Stratas and was recently the Treasurer of a Community Association comprising 19 individual strata for over 5 years. She has significant knowledge of financial and management accounts.
Club involvement:
Amanda is a current member of the Board and a member of the Audit Planning & Risk Committee and has found this invaluable in understanding the workings of the club, the financial makeup and capacity of the club, and the policies put into place to minimize risk to achieving the best outcomes for CYCA members.
She wishes to continue to be focussed on helping drive towards the Club’s strategic goals and vision, whilst ensuring our execution is financially prudent and sustainable. She intends to remain on the AP&R Committee as a member representative and as a financial professional. She also intends to continue with the newly formed Sailing Sub-committee for Sailing Women, in line with the Club strategy.
Amanda is supportive and a regular attendee at our Club’s events; she attends Thursday night Badge Draw, regularly dines in the restaurant, and attends various gala and sailing related events that are held throughout the year.
Nicola Wakefield Evans AM
Governance and Board Experience:
Nicola is an experienced company director and corporate finance lawyer with extensive legal, executive and board experience across listed companies, private enterprises and not-for-profit organisations.
Nicola is recognised for her strategic thinking, sound judgement, integrity and collaborative leadership, with governance expertise spanning board leadership, strategy, risk management, audit and finance, remuneration, succession planning, organisational culture and complex regulatory environments.
She has served on the boards of leading Australian companies and chaired or served on several audit & risk, remuneration, nomination and governance committees. She is currently Chair of MetLife Australia, a non-executive director of Sonic Healthcare Group, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Goodes O’Loughlin Foundation and the University of New South Wales Foundation, a Guardian of the Future Fund, and a member of the Takeovers Panel.
Nicola spent nearly 30 years, including 20 as a partner, at Mallesons in Sydney, New York, Perth and Hong Kong, working across equity capital markets, corporate finance and significant M&A transactions.
Her professional recognition includes selection to Advance Asia 50 in 2009 and Advance Global 50 in 2011, inclusion in the Australian Financial Review and Westpac Group’s inaugural list of Australia’s 100 Women of Influence in 2012, appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2023, and the Financial Review Boss Director of the Year Award for Director Excellence in 2026.
Sailing and CYCA Experience:
Sailing has been part of Nicola’s life since childhood. She began at age 10 in Sabots and Flying 11s from the Lane Cove 12ft Skiff Club, later sailing Lasers from Lane Cove and the Greenwich Flying Squadron. She currently serves on the CYCA Sailing Committee and Protest Committee and chairs the CYCA Women in Sailing Committee.
Her family is deeply involved in sailing, including her husband Kym Evans and their four sons, two of whom have been members of the CYCA Youth Squad. She sails regularly on Whistling Kite (her husband’s Seaquest RP36) in CYCA offshore and inshore series and twilight racing at RSYS, and helms Whistling Kite in the Sydney Harbour Women’s Keelboat Series, where she was the inaugural Division 1 Female Helm winner in 2020/2021. In May 2021, she was awarded RSYS Yachtswoman of the Year. In 2025, she acquired a half share of the Hanse 430e yacht Into the Mystic and sailed her first Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race that December as part of the crew of Oroton Drumfire.
In 2025, she chaired the Sydney Harbour Friday Twilight Series Review for Australian Sailing, working across the Sydney Harbour sailing community to improve safety in competitive yacht racing. She has also been a longstanding supporter of women’s, youth and schools sailing as pathways for emerging sailors.
Nicola brings deep governance experience, commercial and financial oversight, and a practical understanding of offshore racing and safety to the Board, with a focus on the Club’s long-term financial strength, member value and the development of future sailing talent.
Bradshaw Kellett
Bradshaw Kellett joined the CYCA in 1993 and has given more than two decades of service to the Club, including six years on the Board (2016–2022), rising to Rear-Commodore. A product of the first Youth Sailing Academy intake, he is the youngest sailor to complete 34 consecutive Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Races, with an overall victory in 2000 and the race record in 2016. His family connection runs deep, through Life Members David Kellett AM, a Past Commodore, and Kendi Kellett.
Across the Sailing, Premises, Marina and Member Engagement committees, Bradshaw has delivered lasting change. He introduced Double-Handed racing at the CYCA, modernised the Blue Water Point Score and race documentation, and built the Club’s archive and digital heritage program, including a digital asset management system to preserve and present the Club’s history. Founder of B-Sure Boating Services since 2002, he works at regattas around the world and brings that international perspective back to the CYCA.
Bradshaw’s focus on the Board will be financial sustainability, turning the Club’s strong operating cash into genuine surpluses, while protecting its offshore sailing values, mentoring Youth Academy sailors, safeguarding its heritage, and keeping the Clubhouse and marina in first-class order.
Above all, Bradshaw’s motivation is simple: a lifelong love of the CYCA and of offshore sailing, and a determination to see both thrive, so that the generations who follow inherit a Club that is financially strong, fiercely proud of its heritage, and still sending sailors to the start line of the great ocean races.
