Manly has quietly become one of Australia’s busiest meeting points for world-class sailing, with the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron now running international regattas back-to-back while still holding onto century-old traditions passed down through generations of local sailors.
The club’s 142nd sailing season opened on August 29. Hundreds of members and guests packed the Manly clubhouse for the occasion. Next up is Sail Brisbane, running December 15 to 20, according to Australian Sailing — the latest stop in a year that already saw the Finn Gold Cup and Finn World Masters bring sailors from across the globe to this stretch of Moreton Bay.
A Pattern Worth Noticing
One season opening, viewed alone, is just tradition. Three international events in a single year is something else entirely. What does it take for a small bayside suburb to land that kind of calendar? Decades of infrastructure, an experienced volunteer base, and a reputation built long before this year’s regattas were ever scheduled. Manly isn’t auditioning for a spot on the international sailing circuit — it’s already there.
Roots Going Back to 1885
Everything traces back to 1885, when the club began as the Brisbane Sailing Club. It would take more than a century of steady growth to become the sailing powerhouse Queensland now recognises, one that has never lost its focus on competition and mentoring newer sailors alongside seasoned ones.
There’s a detail that stops people in their tracks: the Squadron predates Australia’s own navy. According to the original event coverage, Commander Christopher Unwin of HMAS Moreton raised the point himself during the season-opening ceremony. The Navy traces its official founding to 1901, when the colonial naval forces amalgamated following Federation — though it wouldn’t carry the title “Royal Australian Navy” until a decade later. Either way, RQYS had already been on the water for well over a decade by the time that naval history began.
A Ceremony Built on Old Customs
Bagpipes led the way this year, courtesy of the Emmanuel College Highlander Band, as Commodore Curtis Skinner welcomed patron Professor Graeme Nimmo and Commander Unwin in a formal procession. A Royal Australian Navy Band performance and a morning tea set a relaxed tone before the ceremony turned formal — helped along by unseasonably mild winter weather.
Then came the Sail Past, the day’s real spectacle. Boats from across the fleet moved together past the inspecting officers, ensigns dipping in salute as they passed. It’s a tradition with serious age behind it: 1815, to be exact, when a yacht club at Cowes on England’s Isle of Wight borrowed the idea from naval fleet reviews. Clubs worldwide picked it up as a way to mark a new season, and RQYS has kept it alive ever since. A blessing of the fleet followed, tying this year’s sailors to everyone who came before them.
Community Still at the Centre
For all the international attention, this was still very much a local affair. Other sailing clubs sent representatives. So did local politicians. Life members and veteran sailors turned out too, filling the clubhouse with the kind of familiarity that only comes from decades of shared history. When evening arrived, the mood shifted — a country and western-themed party closed out the day before the real work of the season began.
So where does that leave Manly? Somewhere between its past and its future. The club that started as a modest sailing outfit in 1885 is now gearing up for Sail Brisbane in December, carrying forward a reputation that keeps drawing the world’s sailors back to its shores.
Published Date 26-September-2026
