Sail Mooloolaba 2015 - Change in the wind for annual regatta

by Tracey Johnstone on 20 Feb 2015 Change is in the wind for the month-long Sail Mooloolaba celebration of sailing regatta which is held each year throughout June.

For the last five years the Sail Mooloolaba committee has each year organised up to five large events over a five week period. In 2015 the key events will instead be run by individual clubs, however the program will remain similar to previous years.

The chair of Sail Mooloolaba, Darren Spence, confirmed that the committee with good reason voluntarily handed over the reins. 'It comes down to people and resources. An event that runs over four or five weeks really needs specialist or more dedicated people from each club to run the event that they have chosen or are best at,' Spence said.

The Match Racing Championship will be held on the weekend of May 23 and 24 by Mooloolaba Yacht Club. Two teams from Sydney will join other teams from Melbourne, Brisbane, Mooloolaba and Noosa. The Notice of Race and entry form are at www.mooloolaba.yachting.org.au.

Reaching the grand age of 19, the annual Etchells Australasian Winter Championship, while never part of the Sail Mooloolaba program, will remain in its long-weekend slot on June 4 to 7 and run by Mooloolaba Yacht Club.

Joining the Etchells out on the water on that weekend will be the Dinghy Classes Regatta and run by Maroochy Sailing Club. The club’s Rear Commodore of Sailing, Todd McVey, confirmed the dinghies will be on the water from Saturday to Monday.

'The change in the program for the dinghies stems from experiencing Sail Melbourne and Sail Sydney where the juniors got to sail alongside their mentors or super stars of sailing. They all want to meet them, sail near them, learn from them and get the odd autograph which makes it more of a festival of sailing rather than just a dinghy regatta. This is what we want for our event in June,' McVey said.

The following weekend will be the third annual Sports Boat Winter Nationals being conducted by Mooloolaba Yacht Club on June 12 to 14. The inter-state entry numbers are again looking strong for this event. The Notice of Race and online entry will be posted here.

The little radio controlled boats will have their day on Tuesday June 30. Club Kawana Radio Controlled Yachting will host a fleet racing on the Mooloolah River in front of The Wharf Mooloolaba.

On July 4 and 5 the Queensland IRC Championships will return for a second consecutive year with racing conducted by Sunshine Coast Yacht Club on the bay off Mooloolaba. For more information on IRC event will be available here.