Ash Bolt
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Festival of Sails will return to Geelong next month.
Australia’s oldest sporting event and the biggest keel boat regatta in the southern hemisphere, the Festival of Sails will be held from Saturday, January 22 until Australia Day.
The event was first held in 1844 and the 2022 event will mark the 179th running of the iconic Melbourne to Geelong Passage Race, which is expected to attract up to 250 entries.
Festival of Sails chairman Roger Bennett said the 2022 event was shaping up to be a welcome reunion for more than 2000 competitors and sailing enthusiasts from all over Australia.
“The past couple of years have been extremely difficult for major events and we have been understandably frustrated by not being able to deliver Geelong’s much-loved event,” he said.
“While the 2022 event will look a little different, we’re delighted to be back out sailing and racing and importantly, welcoming the public back into Geelong to celebrate the long weekend.”
One of the biggest changes for the event will be the scrapping of the traditional Waterfront Festival for 2022.
Organisers made the decision to revise the format due to the ongoing impact of restrictions and instead replace it with a sponsored live music and entertainment program at venues across Geelong’s CBD for 2022.
“This year will be all about the reunion and getting people back together and as part of that, we’re delighted to be sponsoring some of our key live music venues in Geelong and encouraging people to come into Geelong over the festival period and celebrate by supporting local artists and local venues,” Bennett said.
“Of course, we’re looking forward to getting back to our traditional Waterfront Festival, hopefully for the following year in January 2023.”
Competition is expected to be fast and furious on the water with the 2022 event featuring the high-performance sport boats Melges 24 National Championships, the Double Handed Victorian Championships, the Victorian Sailing League, the Sailing Champions League and the Deakin Cadet Championships.
“There will be plenty of sailing action and we’re delighted to also be hosting the new Sailing Champions League, which is a four-member team challenge with everyone sailing the same supplied boats in a new style of racing which is currently taking Europe by storm,” Bennett said.
“Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, we are still expecting a strong fleet to attend [the Festival of Sails] in 2022, with entries already exceeding 100 vessels from across Victoria and New South Wales and we’re hopeful that as state borders continue to open up, that we will see further entries from around Australia.”
Bennett said the organisers are also keen to encourage visiting sailors to stay and support local tourism businesses.
“We’re keen to encourage our visitors to stay a little longer in our beautiful region by offering some free moorings after the event, so they can explore our food, wine and tourism offerings,” he said.
“We’re still finalising our full program and hoping to be able to offer something to make the Festival of Sails a fabulous celebration we all look forward to, particularly after such a tough couple of years for Victoria.”
