August 1 - 31, 2026: Issue 657

 

Julia Hornsby: First Female Commodore of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Pittwater

RPAYC Commodore Julia Hornsby. Photo: RPAYC

Julia Hornsby has earned a University of Sydney Masters of Science (Immunology) 1982-1988, holds a University of Technology Sydney Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) 1970-1975, studied at UNSW (Drug Development) 2008, and the Western Sydney University (Management) 1997.


However, it is her volunteer work as a member of the Warriewood Residents Association, the Zonta Club of the Northern Beaches - being President 2021-2022, as Assistant Secretary to the  Australasian College of Biomedical Scientists, of which she is also a Fellow, and her years as a Member of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, that Julia has become known for. In 2025 Julia was presented with a New South Wales Parliament Community Recognition from Pittwater MP Jacqui Scruby. This was followed by being named the NSW/ ACT and Australian Sailing's 'Volunteer of the Year'.

The MP for Pittwater's Community Recognition statement reads:

Julia Hornsby is a trailblazer in our sailing community and the first female vice commodore at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club since its inception. Julia oversees many programs at the club including the Alfred’s Community Sailing Program, which aims to support the mental wellbeing of people who have experienced trauma. Participants include local emergency response workers, women from Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter refuge and police from the Domestic Violence Unit. Through this program, participants can enjoy a day out on the calm waters of Pittwater and a communal lunch with their colleagues. The program is a true testament to Julia’s character and her care for our Pittwater community.

Julia also led the charge to host the Hansa World Championships at the club. She worked tirelessly to understand how to support participants with disabilities in this event, including those who very impressively used only their chin to sail their Hansa yacht. Julia’s work to improve accessibility and inclusion at the club is nothing short of incredible, and I thank her for enriching our community.

Jacqui Scruby MP further said:

“Julia embodies the spirit of Pittwater—resilient, inclusive and deeply connected to her community.”

The RPAYC was formed on Tuesday October 15 1867 as the 'Prince Alfred Yacht Club', meaning the club celebrates its 160th Anniversary next year.

The club can trace its formative threads back, through its first Commodore, the superlative yacht designer and sailor, Richard Harnett, to the formation of two yacht clubs in Sydney in 1856; the Royal Sydney Yacht Club and the Mosquito Yacht Club. The Club was named to honour the Prince of the same name who was the The First Royal Visitor to Australia, and whom members greeted on Sydney Harbour in February the following year.

AQUATICS. 
Perhaps the most important event of the aquatic off season was a meeting held on Tuesday evening at M'Grath and Punch's hotel, where a number of pleasure boat owners assembled to consider the propriety of forming another yacht club. This step, was partly owing to the exclusion by the R.S.Y.C. of all yachts under five tons. 

The affair was as business-like as any of the kind ever held. Resolutions  were passed without much waste of words, and ere the meeting separated the Prince Alfred Yacht Club was formed, and a pile of cash in front of the treasurer showed that the movement was real. The registration fee for yachts was fixed at 10s. 6d., and members annual subscription at 20s. The club colours are to be the Australian ensign without stars on the blue cross, burgee white with blue cross. 

The yachts already entered are the Scud, Australian, Spray, Cruiser, Lurline, Dora, Flying Scud, and the unnamed now building for Mr. Brown, by Lomax, of Balmain. This is a fair beginning, considering that the advertisement calling a meeting only appeared that morning, and it seems certain that, at the first general meeting of the club on next Monday night a large addition of boats and members will take place. Go ahead 'Alfreds,' there is plenty of room for both clubs. YACHTING. (1867, October 19 - Saturday). Sydney Mail (NSW : 1860 - 1871), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166800569

In October 1911 then Commodore Norman H. Murray, announced at the annual Mess Dinner he had received a letter from the Governor-General, stating that his Majesty, King George V, had been pleased to authorise the prefix "Royal" to be conferred on the Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

In 1919, the Committee decided that Sydney Harbour was becoming too congested for yacht racing and a sub-committee was formed to inspect land that would be suitable for yacht racing in the Pittwater area. As a result, a site at Green Point on Pittwater was purchased. Members had been taking part in Pittwater Regattas for quite some time, in fact RPAYC member John Roche, born at Bayview, was known as the 'Father of the Pittwater Regatta' so a place on Pittwater would have been a natural choice.

“The Alfreds”, as it’s known by members and locals, has a long and colourful history and is one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious yacht clubs. The Club is currently home to the Admiral’s Cup, one of yachting’s most sought after trophies, and has led sailing in Australia through its consistent innovative approach to the sport and recreational pastime by being where new classes of vessels, new kinds of regattas, and new knowledge on sailing will be introduced. History is continually being made through the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and its members.

At the Annual General Meeting on Thursday 23 July 2026, history was made again when members elected Julia Hornsby as their next Commodore, making her the first female to hold the office in the Club’s history. Julia officially commenced the honour at the close of the Annual General Meeting.

Retiring RPAYC Commodore Rob McClelland hands over to incoming RPAYC Commodore Julia Hornsby. Photo: RPAYC

An active RPAYC member for more than two decades, Hornsby has served as Vice Commodore from 2023 to 2026, Director, Rear Commodore Activities from 2018 to 2021 and Chair of the Alfred’s Community Sailing Program. She brings deep experience in governance, sailing, volunteer leadership and community engagement.

“I am incredibly honoured to be elected as the first female Commodore of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club,” Julia Hornsby said. “I look forward to working alongside our talented members and staff to continue the Club’s tradition of brilliance, embrace the opportunities ahead and help lead RPAYC towards its 160th anniversary in October 2027.”

Hornsby’s election follows sustained service across the Club, including the Heritage, Maintenance and Development, and Race Management, and leadership of Alfred’s Community Sailing, which introduces people from the wider community to the sport.

As Chair of the Organising Authority for the 2025 International Hansa Class Association World and Para World Championships, Hornsby led RPAYC and its partner organisations in delivering an inclusive championship for more than 200 sailors from 18 countries.

Her contribution was recognised in 2025 when she was named Australian Sailing’s national and NSW/ACT Volunteer of the Year and RPAYC Volunteer of the Year. Julia has also received a Northern Beaches Community Service Award and was the RPAYC's Clubman of the Year (2016-17).

An active sailor across the Club’s weekday, twilight, inshore, estuary and feature racing events, Julia Hornsby also brings senior professional experience in clinical immunology, molecular diagnostics and regulatory affairs, together with formal director and sailing qualifications.

This week a few insights from Commodore Hornsby on why volunteerism and “The Alfreds” is so importnat to her.

Congratulations Julia, first female Commodore at RPAYC - how does that feel? 

It feels exciting and humbling.  I've received overwhelming support and good wishes and that's just great. They’ve said ‘you've earned it, you'll do a great job, we're so thrilled’. People have gone out of their way to be really supportive, so I'd better do a good job Madison. 

, you will do an outstanding job Julia, you have been putting in the hard yards for quite some time now. Now, but on that, 

When and how did you first into being on the water? 

It was random sailing until 2011, and then it built from there, so I gave a little speech at the acceptance. I said now I've got a few people to blame here and this is how it all started, from the boats I was then on. 

Then I was asked to do some volunteering. As I've been doing volunteering forever it was an easy ‘Yes. I'm happy to do that’, and one thing led to another. Sailing wise, since 2016, we've been doing like Wednesday afternoon, Thursday twilight, and Tuesday women's twilight, Saturday and all the special races. So, a lot of sailing.

I'm only a late starter though, I'm not like these people that have grown up with salt water in their veins.

What sort of yachts are you sailing? 

I used to sail with David Kennedy and Angus Gordon on a J35, but we own a Gary Mull 22, it's called ‘Pick Pocket’. It' has a red mast, and for her time, she was an advanced design. She's fast. Chris is a good sailor and I think the phrase is she punches above her weight.

She's good, very good, and Chris looks after it, so she’s easy to handle, and a strong little boat. She's done all sorts of racing. 

The Hornsby’s Pick Pocket – winner in the 2022 Pittwater Regatta. Photo: RPAYC

The Alfreds has initiated a number of firsts; introducing new classes of yachts, enabling people to get into sailing, Sailability Crystal Bay was an Alfreds initiative, and Saltwater Veterans, enabling people to experience the joy and resilience sailing can give you, as well as the community sailing programme, which you run, and recently, the Hansa World Championships, were hosted by the club. Why is that an aspect of the RPAYC?

Saltwater Vets didn't exist until our community sailing programme. We had people there that so benefited from the programme that they were empowered to set up Saltwater Vets. I think it's marvellous. 

I also help out at Sailability. The club’s members rise to the occasion every time they see an opportunity. Honestly, I've had to give a few little talks about it. They selflessly offer their time and their boats and their expertise, and they've been doing so for years and years and years.

So it's pretty good and I've been fortunate to be involved with all of them. 

Why is it important to you to see someone that you think might benefit from getting out on the water and trying out sailing?

It's a good question and hard to answer. I have great empathy for and understanding of the privileged position I'm in with my mental health and my life's journey. I've had my challenges, we all have but I think if we can help others, we should help. And do you know what? It provides great joy to see people benefiting. And it's not hard. I don't have any complicated criteria for our community programmes. If people want to come along, that's it.

As long as they do and get something from it, and we bend over backwards to make it zero stress on the day, we regard the day or the programme as a success. If people walk out of that place feeling better, which I believe they do because we have a communal lunch where we all sit together at one long table and talk about the sailing, then that’s a step in the right direction. And I've learned, I've been doing flag offices since 2018.

Everybody's got a story. People might crack hearty and look like it's all easy, but it's not. So that's what I've learned; if we can help, let's do it. And you know what? You get more than you put in. It's great fun, and you’re doing this with great people. I've met marvellous people. 

Because it builds skills and confidence or gives them the connection with the water, the conditions and other people, there can be lasting benefits.

RPAYC Commodore Rob McClelland, Hansas Jackie Kay and Chris Mitchell and RPAYC Vice Commodore, Julia Hornsby. Photo: Alex Dare, Hansa Worlds - 2025

Sailability Crystal Bay - Tuesday 2nd of April, 2014. Picture by A J Guesdon. 

You're not only volunteering at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club - you've been a volunteer treasurer at the Warriewood Residents Association for quite some time as well, Julia, and have been a member of our local Zonta Club, even serving as President. Where does it, what started your commitment to helping your local community? Did you have a mum that was always baking scones for CWA fundraisers or…? 

I had a mother who graduated from medicine in 1938, but I had parents that always gave back. Mum had six children, worked full time, and still volunteered. Both my parents were GPs, and if people couldn't pay, which they often couldn't in the 1950s and ‘60s, they'd leave a box of fruit on the back door – so I guess it's lead by example, and from their examples.

I've also worked for a long time with people who are world leaders in their fields, but who have shown great compassion and caring. So I guess I've just been lucky to have those examples and inspirations.

Women in sailing; the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club goes above and beyond in fostering and supporting women’s sailing, amnd that has been recognised as the club was named a finalists among the 2026 NSW/ACT Sailing awards in the She Sails category for the club’s Women's Sailing Courses. RPAYC was one of the first clubs to take on SheSails, runs dedicated twilight sailing for women, regattas for women and educational events, OptiChicks which runs this September, and this September, Alfred's members of are representing Australia at the inaugural New York Club Women's International Championship, where legends like Katie Spithill, Stacey Jackson, Nina Curtis and the Costanzo girls race. Why is there such a phenomenal tour de force of women and support through the male membership for women to get into sailing at Alfreds? 

Way back in 1993, we started the foundations for our Youth Development Program under Angus Gordon. In 1995 it was expanded as a formal model. From the outset there was never any thought, ‘oh, boys only’ – girls here (Pittwater) sail, always have. 

Through that program, they have heavy duty training; advanced fleet racing, match racing, boat maintenance, and physical conditioning. They also have to do volunteering, ‘give back’ to those younger ones coming up. They compete in overseas regattas. 

Those young men and women have gone on to the world stage, representing Australia in all spheres of sailing, and we help fund that. It is a tour de force.

Although that program stops when they're 25, women sail all their lives.

The RPAYC, and in particular the men at this club, chose to build programs and support for women and youth sailors.  The men in our club joined the women sailors and made the choice to include and support us. There was no thought, oh, ‘you can't do this’, despite what had occurred before those early 1990’s, we moved on from there.

The RPAYC Womens Development Regatta is aimed at those individuals who have recently completed an RPAYC Adult Learn to Sail program or similar at other clubs.

During the months of October to March the clubs runs fortnightly Womens Tuesday Twilight Series. We've had Women's Twilight races for 30 years, and even before that we had women sailing.

There are multiple ways to become involved from entering your own yacht, helming a members yacht, leasing a club yacht (Elliott 7) or joining as crew. Racing starts from 1755hrs followed by a post race presentation over dinner back at the club house. This is open to Members and Non-Members (Sail Pass required for non-member crew).

The RPAYC also offers a simple training pathway for adults wanting to get into sailing or for those seasoned sailors to develop their skills. Training is delivered by Australian Sailing (AS) accredited instructors following a national syllabus. RPAYC offers the Start Crewing, Start Helming and Start Skippering Courses to members and non-members.

The club also encourages women to reach out to fellow female sailors at RPAYC and join in racing. There are several ways to link up with like-minded sailors and get out on Pittwater.

I think there's a stereotype of ‘white privileged male’ but that's all it is - a stereotype. What we’ve experienced here is a concerted choice to ‘sail’ in the opposite direction, to include everyone.

Even for the Hansa, one of the members said; ‘I've got a waterfront house with a lift, do you want that access?’ Another said, ‘I've got a luxury boat. Do you want that as a support boat?’ And even one of the wheelchair athletes from Perth, he said, ‘Julia, my wheelchair's been broken forever’. Two engineers fixed it, and neither said ‘’look at me, look at me’’, they just did it. It's just a culture, we've had it forever. 

We've done it for decades - I volunteer a lot in the archives - and the RPAYC did it during the wars as well.

The girls going to New York Yacht Club, I was there at the launch. These are not only some of Australia’s finest women sailors, they are also excelling in their other chosen fields - I looked at their CVs and thought, ‘my goodness’. When I need help for a SheSails Regatta,  I need a volunteer, they just come along. I said to them, 'long after your sailing prowess is dimmed in history, your volunteering to support and help grow women's sailing will live on'.

In recent decades, and those women sailors epitomise this, it has become apparent that’s women’s sailing is what I would term ‘now firmly out of the box’.

Photo: Margaret Fraser-Martin, Margs Yacht Photos

The Royal Prince Alfred motto is ‘Excellence in Sailing’ - the Alfred's has introduced new classes of boats, particularly on Pittwater, and adding more events of international standing to the sailing calendar. Why does the Alfred's seek to go above and beyond in anything and everything connected to sailing? 

I think it's always been, ‘why not? Let's give it a go.’ 

Sometimes these new areas and offerings can be slow to get off the ground, but they all become part of what we do and can be done within a few years. The club has a culture of ‘let's see what we can do’ – and when innovations in sailing or in how to sail are developed, that speaks to what we’re about.

Our vision is to provide a world-class yachting facility that attracts and involves members in the enjoyment of the sport of yachting and sailing.  The club wants to offer comprehensive programs in racing, cruising, youth development and sail training. We want to provide a sense of belonging and ‘Club spirit’ for our members and their guests and proactively contribute to supporting the external community.

The Club embraces and supports the diverse sailing interests of its members.  Unity across all groups is paramount to the success of the Club, so we promote an environment that fosters fairness, equity and respect for social and cultural diversity.  Everyone is to be treated fairly and equitably regardless of their status within the Club.

It's just a culture of risk taking in the sport, but built into that is all actions, decisions and communication should be respectful of all members, staff, the community and the environment.

The RPAYC includes everyone from tackers through to older sailors, hosts male and female, from seven years of age right through to what, 101 – why is it so successful at having an all-in and all-ages membership?

I think sailing is a tonic. The thing about sailing is the older you get, the cannier you get, and you can do that for a very long time. We think sailing is good for you. You don't need a wellness centre; you need to get out on the water and have a go, get a lungful of fresh air. 

The opening day for the 2026-27 sailing season, and even though everyone sails at the RPA all year round, is on Saturday, the 5th of September this year. What are you looking forward to this sailing season, Julia, in your inaugural year as Commodore? 

I'm looking forward to Opening Day - it's a beautiful day where all the sailors gather. We have the Pittwater dash, the dressed ships and crew parade, and it’s a great way to mark the opening of the sailing season. I look forward, as the Commodore, to welcoming and making feel welcome all our sailors, and looking after them. I want to look after them when they're out on the water and hear what their concerns are.

We've got great sailing officers and great staff, so I'm looking forward to a strong sailing season, a safe sailing season, and doing as many races as we can. We've a full calendar of sailing series and regattas, so my job will be working with the club and its volunteers and staff to keep us on the water, and on the beautiful Pittwater.

What are your favourite places in Pittwater and why? 

Well, apart from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, I do love Clareville Beach. We go down there with the family and the little children, have a barbecue, or have breakfast, and enjoy just being on the water. 

I love Morning Bay, that's a great spot as well, and I love walking up to the headland, to Barrenjoey Lighthouse, and going down Smuggler's Track.

Every time I say to my husband, who's spent his life on Pittwater, ‘let's go for a drive, we’ve done all the gardening, done this, done that’ on a Sunday, he thinks, ‘oh, let's drive to Palm Beach’  - and that’s what we do. 

What is your motto for life or a favourite phrase that you try to live by? 

Love life and get on with it. 

Pittwater from Bayview Heights and RPAYC yachts making their way home north of Longnose Point, Pittwater. Photos: AJG/PON

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club: Kids Learn to Sail: Come and Try Sundays in September -