Naomi Cain is the only woman on the first all-indigenous crew to sail the Sydney to Hobart race in 2019. The crew had attempted to do the race in 2016 but their vessel was damaged in a storm a few weeks before the race and despite their best efforts they couldn’t find a suitable replacement. Naomi comes from the Coonabarabran region of the Gomeroi people.
Photo of Naomi Cain, credit: ABC News.
At the time of the race she was 40 years old and had spent 18 years working as a wharfie so she’d spent a lot of time by the sea. She has said her strength comes from being inspired by her grandmother, Indigenous land rights activist Mary “Queenie” Cain, who successfully petitioned the queen of England to restore the Gomeroi people’s land back to them in the 1880s.
Naomi herself hoped to be an inspiration to other aboriginal women. In her own words: “If one young Aboriginal girl, or anyone sees me and thinks ‘I can do that’, that would make me so proud.”
Photo of Naomi Cain with crew-mates Wayne Jones and Danny Teece-Johnson on the deck of the Tribal Warrior, credit: The Sydney Morning Herald.
In fact, The whole crew of the vessel, the Tribal Warrior, hoped to be an inspiration to young Aboriginals. “Our biggest goal here is that we cross that finish line and that a bunch of Indigenous kids see that there is a spot in sailing for them,” Tribal Warrior Chief Executive Shane Phillips said.
“I don’t know what is ahead for me. I am scared but at the same time really, really happy to be able to do it.” — Naomi.