Sunshine Coast Marine Festival a winner

by Marine Queensland on 23 Nov 2011 When is a marine festival more than a show for boaties? When it is a community event: that’s the word from the Sunshine Coast’s inaugural Marine Festival which has just finished.

The Sunshine Coast Marine Festival, held on 19/20 November, not only incorporated the Sunshine Coast Sailing Expo but was held at the Mooloolaba Marina and Yacht Club, coinciding with the reopening of the Yacht Club after a seven year closure.

Festival highlights included on water displays from Nautitech, Seawind Catamarans and Fountaine Pajot. Adding to the community spirit of the event, Yachting Queensland coordinated a Sailing Expo which ran along the Marina’s waterfront.

Yachting Queensland’s John Belsham said the sailing expo allowed for representation from all the local sailing clubs with the added bonus of visitors getting the chance to actually sample a short sailing trip across the Mooloolah River.

'Not only did we have boat displays on the water but this was a fantastic chance for us to introduce sailing to those who have never considered it before,' Belsham said.

'We find that once people are on the boats and out on the water they wonder why it’s taken them so long to discover sailing.'

Marine Queensland is so pleased with the result that it has said its future boat shows could be destined to be held on water if the results of the inaugural Sunshine Coast Marine Festival are anything to go by.

After the event, Marine Queensland’s event manager, Jason Plant, said, 'This is an enormous success for both the marine industry and us as a marine body.'

'The decision to create a special Sunshine Coast Marine Festival was part of Marine Queensland’s continued strategy to increase promotion of local marine industry and is a direct response to outcomes from our Marine Industry Summit earlier in the year.

'The success is a tribute to the tremendous support and involvement from local dealers and manufacturers who threw themselves behind this event to get it up and running. We are confident that this event has definite place on our annual events calendar for years to come.

Managing director of JD’s Boat Shed, Mark Taylor also commented favourably, and saw the festival’s success as being enhanced by its location.

'This was as good an event as any we have attended this year but it was the location of this event that made it special, separating it from the pack,' Taylor said.

'Being set on the water with plenty of activity happening along the river helps people appreciate the lifestyle they are buying into when they get a boat. We had plenty of serious enquiries across the weekend and have a busy few weeks ahead of us now.'

Marine enthusiasts were able to check out the latest in accessories and get up close and personal with more than 25 brands of boats with other product ranging from engines, PWC's, marine electronics and accessories.

The Sunshine Coast region boasts a very high per capita boat ownership ratio with one boat registered for every 18 residents.