Sailing festival in date, cycle move

Geelong’s Festival of Sails has changed dates and incorporated a cycling event to become “bigger and better”, Royal Geelong Yacht Club has announced.
The change would “optimise the benefits of an earlier event with a consistent calendar spot in January while increasing opportunities for non-racing activities, the club said.
The festival would now run over nine days, with the Southern Hemisphere’s largest sailing regatta on the first day and a Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on the last.
Festival chairman Peter Alexander said the growing relationship between the two “hugely popular” events would create a “unique offering” for sports fans from 21 to 29 January.
“We’ve now moved our event into an effectively fixed slot a little earlier in January. This offers the real bonuses of being closer to the timing of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and concludes well clear of families preparing to get children back to school,” Mr Alexander said.
“We believe this change will appeal to Sydney to Hobart competitors to now consider sailing in Geelong and, along with a raft of new additions to our program, we’re confident the festival will become bigger and better.”
The festival attracts sailors from around Australia for competition to win trophy honours on Corio Bay.
The club said more than 100,000 patrons attended the annual event, which includes onshore live entertainment, market stalls, family activities and carnival atmosphere.