Skandia Docklands Invitational Program

I was privileged to have witnessed the one of Victoria's most famous yacht racing in Docklands

As their website states:

"The Skandia Docklands Invitational brings world class yacht racing into the heart of the city.

The 'invitation only' event will see some of Australia's best yachts gather at Waterfront City for a five race series. The invited fleet is expected to include some of the best performed IRC yachts from Australia and beyond, with a vast majority making their return from the Rolex Sydney to Hobart.

The series will be organised by Royal Geelong Yacht Club as part of an expanded Skandia Geelong Week. This historic sporting event includes 110 races and is Victoria's oldest sporting event.

Skandia Geelong Week attracts in excess of 450 yachts, approx 4500 sailors and an estimated 100,000 visitors. For more information on Skandia Geelong Week please visit www.geelongweek.com "

it was a beautiful day. the skies and water were as blue as you could ask for. perfect!

the main sponsor of the event was AUDI (you know, the flashy car used in Transporter 3)


the main prize on offer is the beautiful yacht (for the club) and an AUDI car

initially i thought the 35-100 was a bit too short for the range i needed, but it worked out fine in the end. For events like these, you definitely need the 50-200.

the race starts, and everyone heads off. the race umpires are in the yellow boat

if you're not careful, you're boat can tip over, as evidenced here. when that happens, you've just got to try to use your body weight to balance the boat.

yachting is such a beautiful sport to watch

the bigger boats on display, presumably for next day's race


then came along this watercraft i've never seen before in my life; a bladerider

this small little craft doesn't look like anything substantial, but boy, it can really sail fast. It can do 10-12 knots, provided the wind isn't too strong

you can see how precariously balanced the riders are above the waters' surface. a beautiful sport indeed.

as the day came to an end, the beautiful summer sunset bathed the boats in a lovely orange glow.

the sole female bladerider i saw on that day.

thats all for now, till then..

laters!