With a fleet of 73 boats travelling from Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, ACT and Northern Territory, the competition was fierce.

A placing in the first 20 is considered a great effort and those finishing in the first 10 are the real professionals.

Susan trained very hard all year for this regatta and her efforts have paid off, finishing 13th overall and a personal best place of 8th in the final heat. She also finished 3rd in the Ladies division and 2nd in the Grand Masters age division, a truly remarkable result.

Anne finished down the back of the pack, unfortunately she had a hip injury and couldn't sail to her full potential. She managed to sail eight of the nine heats with the help of painkillers and assistance in and out of the water from her fellow sailors, and was just happy to be part of the nationals.

The nationals are not all sailing, there is a social side to them as well.

A "Welcome Barbecue" kicks things off, which is a great way of catching up with interstate friends from previous nationals.

Susan introduced Anne and others to what she called "Cabin Surfing" which entailed visiting other cabins for a coffee and a chat; the Victorian "Coffee Pot Cabin" which was voted the "best" for their "coffee and hospitality", dinner at the club, New Year's get together and presentation night were some of the other social events.

Next year, the 34th Sabre Nationals will be held in Melbourne at Blairgowrie Yacht Club, which is on the Mornington Peninsular. Both Anne and Sue have sailed there before and found it to be an ideal venue.

Anne will be back to club sailing again on January 23 for the "Phil Briggs Australia Day Regatta" being held at Cleveland Yacht Club.