The Western Australia Yachting Foundation Inc. (WAYF), trading as Swan River Sailing, was established in 1988 in the wake of the America's Cup Challenge in Fremantle with the aim of promoting Perth, Western Australia as a world acclaimed yachting venue and assisting in the development of local sailors.
To this end, we perform the following activities:
- Organising, promoting and managing sailing championships at the local, state and international level.
- Providing team building and networking sailing charters to corporate clients.
- Providing leisure and networking sailing charters for state, national and international attendees of meetings and conferences held in Western Australia.
- Providing youth development programs to a number of Perth secondary schools and universities.
After more than two decades of operation we have grown from strength to strength, attracting a vast range of corporate clients and running a number of successful annual events.
Our three major international events are the Colin Mullins International Youth Regatta, the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta and the Sunseeker Australia Cup.
Operating from the grounds of the prestigious Royal Perth Yacht Club on the shores of the beautiful Matilda Bay, the day-to-day running of Swan River Sailing is managed by our experienced team, headed by the Executive Officer, Skip Lissiman.
Swan River Sailing owns a fleet of ten identical Foundation 36 yachts which are carefully maintained from the grounds of the Royal Perth Yacht Club.
The fleet is licensed under the Department of Transport survey guidelines for charter.
Our Fleet
The concept for the Foundation 36 yachts was developed by Swan River Sailing in conjunction with the designer Brett Bakewell-White and the boat builder Peter Milner Yachts. In 1995, when the time came to replace our fleet of Farr 36 yachts, it became apparent that there was not a yacht available that satisfied our needs for a fast and easy to sail yacht that was both suitable for match racing events with a crew of 5, while also comfortably accommodating 12 people for corporate sailing functions.
The first fleet of Foundation 36 yachts built in 1995 were sold to Malaysia in 2005 for the annual Monsoon Cup, the final event in the World Match Racing Tour,
at which point our current fleet were commissioned.
Our Board
We have a board of eight members who meet monthly to oversee the direction of Swan River Sailing:
Grantham Kitto (President), Don Nickels (Vice President), Bill Fulcher (Treasurer), Andy Fethers, Peter Leonhardt, Phil Mostyn, Tessa Parkinson and Mark Fitzhardinge.
