Sailing success celebrated

MORE than 100,000 people flocked to the Geelong Waterfront over the long weekend to enjoy the Southern Hemisphere’s oldest keelboat sailing regatta, the Festival of Sails.

The three days of fast furious sailing and sensational entertainment was lauded by attendees, with many commenting on the event’s success and giving it their tick of approval.

Out on the water, the event’s 181st anniversary saw more than 40 races take place across nine divisions, including the Passage Race on Friday last week.

Marcus Blackmore’s new boat Hooligan took home the grand prix title over more than 200 competitors.

It was able to just get the nod over prestigious race boats Secret Men’s Business and Smuggler, which recently won its division in the 2023 Sydney to Hobart.

Blackmore said he was thrilled to score the win.

“I built the Blackmore’s vitamins business on culture and this boat and team are also built on culture.

“With this new boat, I thought we had built the world’s lightest and fastest TP52, but you don’t know that until you get to race it, now I know that we have!

“A fast boat is nothing without a fast crew, so my thanks to them and I dedicate this win to my good friend Lang Walker who passed away on Thursday night and gave so much to our sport.”

Outgoing Festival of Sails chair Paul Buchholz said he was delighted with this year’s event.

“On the waterfront, we had 100,000 visitors and participants and big crowds enjoying some fabulous entertainment and hospitality, we’ve had people trying sailing for the first time, we’ve had beach volleyball, markets and plenty to see and do.

“We also had a fantastic fireworks display, a vintage plane flyover, family-favourite entertainment amongst the more than 40 musical acts across two stages and we’ve given our club site and our entertainment and hospitality areas a major makeover and really brought the party atmosphere to life.

“It’s been a very busy weekend.”