Hi Crew,
Wow—last year was huge, and we’re back with immense gratitude to our supporters, volunteers, sponsors, and donors! 🙌
Your contributions keep the Saltwater Veterans Sailing Project thriving, and we can’t wait for another incredible year on the water. ⛵⚓
Let’s make 2025 even bigger!
🎟️ Bottom Line Upfront: RAFFLE TICKETS – We Need Your Support! 🎟️
We’re on a mission to secure $20K donation to SVSP from the ASX Refinitiv Charity Foundation, but we need your help!
We’re $1,620 away from our goal of selling $10K worth of tickets—and every purchase goes directly to supporting the Saltwater Veterans Sailing Project.
Last year, we facilitated 1,040 participant registrations in activities, but there’s no such thing as free sailing… it’s FUNDED sailing! This raffle helps us rent yachts, buy equipment, and keep veterans on the water.
💨⛵ Every ticket sold keeps the wind in our sails—let’s make this happen!
Buy your tickets now at saltwaterveterans.org or use the quick link below:
👇👇👇
Buy Tickets Here
📅 Save the Date – ANZAC Commemoration Sail | 8th April ⛵
NOW OPEN | Register Here WATCH HERE to see last time we ran this activity.
🎩 Dress of the Day: Boardies, suit jacket & medals
Join us as we honour the service and sacrifice of our fellow veterans, while also celebrating the support of our families, friends, and community.
We’ll begin with a commemorative service, after which we’ll remove our jackets and medalsand head out for a social sail, wrapping up with a relaxed BBQ.
⛵ Boat & Yacht Owners – We Need Your Support!
We’re aiming for a great turnout and need your help in hosting as many participants on water as possible. If you’re available, please register with your availability.
All vessels—great and small—are welcome! Please ensure valid safety equipment and registration.
👐 Salty Vets – We Need Your Help!
To make this an amazing community event, we’re looking for support in the following areas:
✅ Instructors / Skippers
✅ Safety Boat Crew
✅ Yachts (Manly Sailing, MYC, MHYC, RANSA)
✅ BBQ Crew (catering, setup, coordination)
✅ Ceremony Team (planning, flag detail, MC, Ode reader)
🎉 Excited to have the support & collaboration of:
Manly Sailing, Manly Yacht Club, Manly Lions, Club Rivers, the RSL NSW Veterans Support Fund donors and on the ground support from Forestville, Kirribilli and Paddington-Woollahra RSL Sub-Branch!
Let’s make this a day to remember! ⚓🔥
SHORT & CAST | What’s Coming Up
📢 OPS Planning
If you’d like to facilitate/lead an event, please reach out with your concept, plan, and any support you may need. We’re always keen to bring new ideas to life and keep our community sailing! ⛵⚓ Examples of veteran's upcoming concepts - Georges River weekly dinghy racing, HANSA World Championships, Manly Yacht Club twilight racing...
Our activities program is coming together for 2025 - the saltwaterveterans.org remains the datum for our event program - please check there. This year, one of our focuses is to continue building volunteer skills & qualifications while creating more social racing opportunities.
In 2024 with sponsorship support, we funded a crew of Newcastle local veterans through crewing, helming, and skippering courses. Additionally, four veterans internally trained and qualified as Australian Sailing Powerboat Instructors, strengthening our Salty capacity to deliver training and courses by veterans, for veterans and their families.
- Weekly: Manly Yacht Club Friday Night Twilight Racing with Manly Sailing
- Feb: Safety Boat Crew Training—MOB & Towing Drills
- Apr: ANZAC Commemoration Sail
- Mar:
- Sydney Harbour Regatta
- Support to Integra Service Dogs Australia - need a RHIB crew
- HANSA World Championships - we sponsored Sharon & Paula representing our Salty community
- ADF Inter-Service Sailing Championships - view the DEFGRAM HERE | for current serving ADF #represent #saltwaterveterans
Georges River | Register Here
-
The aim of this racing is 💯% fun over performance, along with the social aspect of sailing and individual and crew progression of sailing skills.
We are building a "salty" veterans crew to join the weekly dinghy races at Georges River Sailing Club (GRSC). Aimed mainly at veterans and their families who own a dinghy, there’s also an opportunity for experienced sailors to try out GRSC’s boats and boards.A huge thank you to Club Rivers and the RSL NSW Veterans Support Fund for their generous support in empowering this initiative.
Point of Contact | 0447459129 / dmwatkins90@gmail.com
-
🎓 Funding Support Available!
Thanks to the generous support of Club Wyong & Breakers Country Club, funding is available for Australian Sailing courses and instructor training. 📩 Interested? Email sailingproject@saltwaterveterans.org for more details.
-
📅 February Update: SVSP-Funded Monthly Social Sail with NCYC
We’re kicking off the new year on 27 February with our first SVSP-funded Monthly Social Sail in partnership with NCYC! ⛵
🎓 Funding Support Available!
Thanks to the generous support of Port Waratah, funding is available for Australian Sailing courses and instructor training. 📩 Interested? Email sailingproject@saltwaterveterans.org for more details.
Sunshine Coast |
-
Huge thanks to Sonic for representing our salty community at the Maroochy RSL charity morning tea! ⛵️
The Saltwater Veterans Sailing Project is incredibly grateful for the support of @maroochyrsl. Without their generosity, our ability to provide sailing opportunities for veterans on the Sunshine Coast would be significantly limited by funding constraints.
- We’re planning dates for an upcoming sail training course focused on helming & skippering. Stay tuned for updates! ⛵💨
- 📢 Salty Sailing in Mornington! ⛵Tahi, one of our Keelboat Instructors, has recently moved near Mornington and is keen to establish Salty sailing in the area! If you’d like to support or participate, send your Expression of Interest to: 📩 tahi@saltwaterveterans.org
-
📅 24 April – Ash Semmens Takes on the English Channel Qualifier! 🌊
One of our Salty crew members, Ash Semmens, is taking on a monumental challenge—surface finning across the English Channel! 🏊♂️💪
On 24 April, join us in supporting Ash as he completes his qualifier swim in Port Phillip Bay, the gateway to his epic mission to fin across the English Channel.
Support Needed:
We’re looking for a local volunteered powerboat (ideally a RHIB) to act as a support vessel for this incredible journey. SVSP will cover fuel costs.
-
Let’s help Ash make history—reach out if you can assist! ⚓
Adelaide
📢 Comms Update
For Salty comms, please update Scott's number to 0435 079 665.
Thanks for keeping our contacts up to date! ⛵⚓
📢 WhatsApp Community Update!
We've created a WhatsApp community with specific chat groups for each location, plus a dedicated photo drop chat—because we love photos! 📸⛵
These location chats are designed for direct communication re events & training, specific questions that might benefit the group etc, so please keep the social banter to a minimum or in side chats to avoid overloading members with unrelated messages.
https://chat.whatsapp.com/CGeeGdaevzP4CH80efmpzG
❄️ Why the Snow? ⛷️
You may have noticed a few social posts about Taryn, Dave, and Matty. As a health promotion charity, we’ve been backing these incredible para-athletes on their Paralympic quest—they currently aren't getting a lot of funding support on this journey.
Different conditions, same mission: supporting veterans in their pursuit of sport and adventure. 💪🏅
Taryn & Dave rep'ing Saltwater Veterans in Canmore, Canada - HERE,
See Dave's "The Project" story, view HERE - He is current serving Navy and Northen Beaches resident.
Matty has sailed with Saltwater Veterans in Adelaide and Canada, view HERE and Check out his amazing story HERE
#FrozenWaterVeterans
🎉 New Year, New Salty Merch! ⛵
Order now and #represent the Saltwater Veterans crew! 💙⚓
📦 Orders will be dispatched on 20 Feb—don’t miss out! Checkout saltwaterveterans.org
Thank You
Thanks for your ongoing support! Please share this opportunity with your colleagues, LinkedIn network, and friends.
We’re actively seeking co-elevating sponsorships and marketing partnerships to help us further our charitable mission.
Stay salty,
Saltwater Veterans Sailing Project
