NEARLY 3,000 competitors took to the water during last weekend\u2019s Festival of Sails, including Geelong teenager Nick Lee.<\/p>\n
He was the youngest crewmember on the boat Bundaberg, competing in the Division One Cruising with Spinnaker category, during the event – the largest keel boat regatta in the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents bought a boat when I was six months old and I reckon I\u2019ve been on a boat ever since,\u201d Nick said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really great fun and it doesn\u2019t matter what age you are you can enjoy it. I enjoy everything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Festival of Sails chair Peter Alexander said despite sizzling temperatures, the weather didn\u2019t deter tens of thousands of people from flocking to the waterfront for the 2018 Festival of Sails, including a bumper crowd on Australia Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 175th anniversary of the Festival of Sails was a fantastic celebration of both our history and our future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
About 100,000 people were believed to have enjoyed the atmosphere over the weekend.<\/p>\n
The 2017 festival attracted an economic benefit of $12 million and while the 2018 figures are yet to be finalised, Mr Alexander said the weekend had been another great success.<\/p>\n
This year, the Festival of Sails coincided with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe combination of these two major sporting events generated an unprecedented amount of sporting activity and entertainment around our waterfront. It was definitely an exciting weekend for Geelong,\u201d Mr Alexander said.<\/p>\n
He said it was great to see so many boats of all sizes out on the water and so many people getting into the spirit of the event both on the water along the waterfront.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe racing at the Festival of Sails is always spectacular and this year\u2019s regatta didn\u2019t disappoint. Despite the weather making for some challenging conditions for competitors, there was plenty of exciting racing over the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s event attracted 300 boats of all sizes to Geelong with entries representing all Australian states and participants from New Zealand and Norway.<\/p>\n
At the close of competition, Sydney to Hobart winner Ichi Ban \u2013 skippered by Matt Allan – was the winner of the prestigious IRC Division 1 trophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEARLY 3,000 competitors took to the water during last weekend\u2019s Festival of Sails, including Geelong teenager Nick Lee. He was the youngest crewmember on the boat Bundaberg, competing in the Division One Cruising with Spinnaker category, during the event – the largest keel boat regatta in the southern hemisphere. \u201cMy parents bought a boat when […]<\/p>\n