OFFSHORE: What brought you into sailing?

Some of your family members also sail, has that had a big influence on your decision to pursue sailing? Both my parents are sailors, and therefore there was always a lot of opportunities to go sailing from a young age. We lived right across the road from the Belmont 16ft Sailing Club, which meant that it was always very easy for us to go sailing. I think the fact that both parents are experienced sailors made it easier for us, but there was never any pressure to go sailing which meant I could make my own decision. I have four siblings but my sister and I are the only sailors.

OFFSHORE: How has the YSA helped your sailing and the opportunities that it has enabled you to take up?

The YSA has given me the ability to continue to learn and compete at a high level. The opportunities to progress into competitive keelboat racing as well as exposure in ocean racing is something that I am especially grateful for. Match racing which I have been doing at the YSA for quite a few years now is an exceptional format for fine-tuning sailing skills which I think will be a great foundation for all the sailing that I do.

OFFSHORE: Where are you aiming to peak in sailing? Does an Olympic campaign or a round-the-world ocean race tempt you?

I haven’t really got a planned ‘peak’ for sailing at the moment, but I like to keep it simple and keep doing the sailing that I enjoy. I am involved in three main campaigns this year; the Youth Match Racing Worlds, the Uni Worlds and the J70 Worlds. Apart from this, I am going to try to find time to do some ocean racing this winter and try get a good ride for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at the end of the year. I am also sailing on the MC38 Ginger which I am very excited about!

OFFSHORE: How is the balance between university and sailing? Has there been much of a cross over between the two?

Uni for me is my highest priority. Sometimes I need to remind myself of that because it can be overstimulating going overseas sailing, but it always very humbling to go back into the classroom. I have always felt that without sailing I might go insane at uni – especially in recent years; the work at university has been getting very intense so going sailing regularly is an awesome way to immerse in something else which is challenging. Recently we were able to go sailing representing UNSW at the Uni Worlds in France, which was an incredible experience and definitely a high point for me. It was super last minute and I hadn’t steered a fleet race since high school, so I was pretty nervous. Things felt very surreal while we were over there and winning was even more surreal.

OFFSHORE: In between sailing and normal university you have been working on a serious project. Can you describe what you are undertaking?

I am competing in the inaugural Australian University Rocketry Competition with my university team against 16 other universities. It is with a society called the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) which I have been involved with for two years now. I became really involved about a year ago and had some good timing with being able to jump in as the Project Director as one member left the team, which then led on to also becoming the manufacturing lead on the rocketry team.

We are taking our rocket up to Queensland for the competition where it is entering the 10,000ft height range where you have to hit exactly that height if you go over you start to lose points. The second major restriction is that we have to carry a four-kilogram payload of scientific significance, so we have been working with another student society who are creating a cube satellite split into two parts. The first is to test telemetry systems and the other half is a bacterial test which will qualify us for all the requirements of the competition. It’s been a busy time building it but hopefully it will all go to plan.

OFFSHORE: So as this rocket has become a big part of life is that where you will look to continue in the future?

Honestly, it would be a dream to get an internship or graduate position at a rocket company but there are a few more things to think about in terms of post-graduation plans and how that will all unfold.