The Women’s Open Keelboat Championship

30 May - 1 June 2025

The only female-only open keelboat championship event in the UK.

Welcome to WOKC!

If you’re new here; WOKC is the UK’s biggest all-female open keelboat championship and is run out of the Hamble in sunny England. Whether you’re a seasoned round-the-world racer or you can’t tell a burgee from a gooseneck, you’re welcome at WOKC.

Our mission is simple: provide a platform for women to get on the water, enjoy competitive racing with like-minded sailors and grow confidence in the company of those who have faced - and continue to face - similar hurdles.

Come race with us!

As of 2024, the Women’s Open Keelboat Championship is a three day event consisting of plenty of opportunities to train and race:

  1. Friday: Training day 💪 On the Friday there is on-the-water training sessions and post-sailing debriefs for both the British Keelboat League and yacht racing fleets. It’s a great opportunity for crews to get on the water and gel with coaching from some of the country’s finest sailing talent.

  2. Saturday: Racing with on-the-water coaching 🏁 Championship racing gets underway on Saturday for all fleets, with on-the-water coaching available to competitors who would like to get real-time feedback on their racing skills.

  3. Sunday: Final races & prize giving 🥇 Final races will take place on Sunday with the prize giving at the yacht club following racing.

We now run three racing options:

  • IRC Handicap fleet competing for the Women’s Open Keelboat Championship trophy (BYOBoat)
    The traditional WOKC race course for IRC boats, usually split into two or three fleets depending on ratings and number of entries. Got a boat but not enough crew? Itching to get sailing but don’t have a boat? Watch this space for our crew match service.

  • BKL Women’s Championship (‘rock up and race’)
    Since 2021, we have teamed up with the British Keelboat League to bring you the BKL Women’s Championship which runs alongside the WOKC fleet. They do not compete for the same trophy, but they are a part of the event in every other aspect.
    If you are unfamiliar with the BKL format, find out more here: https://www.britishkeelboatleague.co.uk/
    The keelboat used alternates between the RS21 in even years and the J/70 in odd years, so 2025 will be in J/70s!

 
 

…then party with us!

The racing is like nothing else, but what makes WOKC really special is the onshore scene. Over the weekend you can expect:

  • Friday night registration - After a big day of training, check in with the team and collect your WOKC goody bag! Held alongside the post-training debrief and pre-race weather briefing, there’s plenty of reason to start your weekend on Friday.

  • Saturday sailors panel, WOKC party & charity raffle - Starting with a chance to catch up with the on-water coaches and a speakers panel with some of our female sailing superheroes, the WOKC party offers drinks, food, live music and the famous WOKC charity raffle, all making the Saturday night one not to miss!

  • Sunday prize giving - Dishing out prizes from our amazing sponsors and celebrating another brilliant weekend on the water!

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

WOKC collect your emails purely for the purpose of communicating news and updates about WOKC events and activities. This information will be processed by the WOKC committee internally only and will not be shared with third parties for any other purposes.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices.

Intuit Mailchimp