One big thing is that nearly everybody still comes into the Club prior to the race. From where I sit, at the Black Jack registration desk, it’s a great time to listen to the banter. It can be very amusing! We also now use the RQYS Yacht Racing Course Book which gives up to 30 different courses. This brought on a need to revisit the handicaps. All WAGS-registered boats now have five handicaps covering the course length and wind strength, adjusted weekly with much care and consideration. The average fleet is now over 40 per week. Working on an average of six crew per boat equals around 250 people on the water every Wednesday! It has developed into a very tight group of people showing much respect and camaraderie and is something to be admired. In my opinion WAGS is one of the most competitive races on the Bay. It’s been years since a protest, which shows the growing skills of skippers and crew. EKKA Wednesday 2026 WAGS: Double Black’s crew not disappointed by the light airs. Pic: Spikey Mikey No job too small / Commercial diving available / Professional team Pre-race yacht cleaning: hull, keel, rudder and prop Props removed and replaced / Fully insured / ADAS-qualified mainsheet Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Spring 16 There comes a day when every man, woman and child has to make a decision, a day when their actions can create something larger than imagined, that one decision, that could alter the course of history. One such day, occurred in May 1978 when three men made a life changing decision. It was not a hard decision, nor would many people question them doing so, however it was one that gave birth to an event that would span the next 3 decades and beyond. Ross Jullyan, John Taylor and Mike Thurlow, on a work pontoon varnishing their boats, looked out to Moreton Bay and decided... let’s race! The day was a Wednesday, it was Afternoon, and the Gentlemen went Sailing [WAGS], off course the action was not christened WAGS at the time, this name was bestowed on the event years later based on another premise entirely. Upon returning to the shore, and over a few drinks at the bar, it was decided that skipping out sailing on a Wednesday afternoon should be a regular get together for the boys. In the early days, the WAGS sailors were frowned upon and were derisively labelled to be ‘Wagging It’. Despite the mocking nature of the comment, it was quickly seized upon and the term Wednesday Afternoon Gentlemen’s Sailing was coined, and henceforth became WAGS. Moving into the 21st Century, the name was amended to ensure that female sailors were incorporated into the tradition, and while the acronym remained the same, it had become Wednesday Afternoon Go Sailing. This decision then snowballed and others quickly followed suit. Within six months of that first day, a regular fleet of 6 to 8 boats were racing around Green Island every Wednesday afternoon. Tradition breeds tradition, and days like the Exhibition [Ekka] Wednesday that was a public day off for many in Brisbane, ensured that WAGS attendance increased and became a feature event on those days, every year. The idea was borrowed from a similar race held on Sydney Harbour at the time. The concept was to keep it casual, and to keep it fun. The race rules would then be kept simple: collisions must be avoided, serious or melancholy talk must be laughed away and it was to be held every week at the same time. No matter who or when they decided to compete, it was always the same. Race fleets would circle Green Island in a clockwise direction, no spinnakers were allowed, any size boat with any number of hulls could join in and anyone who arrived at the Squadron would be guaranteed a ride on somebody’s boat, the whole point was to be social and have fun. This was exactly how it has remained. Given the popularity of the event, the skippers eventually had to incorporate handicaps to keep the race interesting, with the intention to ensure the boats all FLASH BACK... TO THE BIRTH OF WAGS BY ASHLEY KAINE With thanks to the story coined by John Taylor and Mike Thurlow. WAGS Report Below: reproduction of ‘The birth of WAGS’ feature in MAINSHEET Spring 2011
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