World title win a $1m coup

The Royal Geelong Yacht Club has won its bid to host the prestigious Fireball World Titles in 2022, bringing a potential $1 million to the city.
Club commodore Chris Williams said the championship would attract 150 competitors to Geelong and “deliver almost $1m” in economic benefits.
“This is another great win for the club and another event that will put Geelong on the world stage.”
As many as 50 international sailors would join competitors from across Australia for the Geelong event in February 2022, Mr Williams announced this week.
The two-person ‘off the beach’ racing series has only run in Australia six times since inception in 1966 and last came to the country in 2012.
The club had already secured the Fireball National Championships in 2019. It was in the running to win the 49er/NACRA World Titles in January, 2020, and the Laser Masters World Titles in March, 2020.
If the yacht club won all three international championships, they could bring more than 700 visitors and an estimated $3.7m to Geelong, Mr Williams said.
“We’ve recently been awarded the title of Victoria’s Yacht Club of the Year.
“Winning the Fireball Worlds will certainly help to cement Geelong’s strong reputation as a top destination for world-class sailing action.
“We are genuinely delighted that we’ve edged out bidders from across the globe to bring this event to Geelong.”
Chris Payne of the Australian Fireballs Association welcomed the win as a coup for Geelong.
“There’s no doubt that the Fireball sailors love racing at Geelong and we know that unique sailing conditions there very much contributed to it winning the bid,” he said.
“It will be a great competition.”
Geelong Major Events and the State Government of Victoria supported the club in its bid.
The Fireball is 4.2m two-person dinghy. The reigning national champions are Victorian husband-and-wife team Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne.