Experiencing Geelong’s Festival of Sails
Coinciding with Australia Day each year, the coastal town of Geelong, about an hour's drive from Melbourne, hosts the Festival of Sails.
It's the oldest sporting event in Australia dating back 172 years and is rated among the state of Victoria's 12 top sporting events alongside the Australian Open tennis, Formula One Grand Prix and the Boxing Day cricket test.
The Festival of Sails finds its origins in 1844 when two men decided to race from the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown to Geelong.
They repeated the race annually with others joining, and now, known as the Passage Race, hundreds of boats contest the event that launches the Festival of Sails.
This year, 276 boats of mixed class raced, including some competitors from the famous Sydney to Hobart race. There were 3000 sailors competing, ranging in age from 12 to 81.
A spectacular sight, the Passage Race launches a long weekend of competition on the water in Geelong, hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club.
The event has evolved into a family festival coinciding with Australia Day with more than 100,000 people attending waterfront-wide activities including concerts, carnival rides, the Giant Sky Wheel, aerial and water skiing displays and market stalls.
On the water the skiing display attracted a crowd of hundreds along the shoreline as six-person pyramids, slippery footwork spinning tricks and a 120kmh swing-around-the-boat trick wowed.
The big finish for the show was two flyboard stuntmen defying gravity in jet boots.
On the opposite side of the marina a golden sand beach stretched for a kilometre, giving families space for some volleyball, swimming, sailing, water fights or even just a good old snooze.
Scenes at the festival revealed a great love for the nation on Australia Day with the country's flag flying at every turn.
The people wore it with pride too, in flag-adorned clothing - or even just the flag itself wrapped as a dress, cape or beach towel. Taking centre stage at noon, a citizenship ceremony welcomed migrants as the newest Australians. A real celebration, capped by an aerial display, beers and a barbecue.
The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism Victoria.
Written by Ed Scragg. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.
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