Recycling and bareboats feature at the marina
Sat 23 Oct 2010
Hundreds of people turned at Abel Point Marina to watch the spectacle of the inaugural Recycle Regatta. Sevens teams representing youth, families and corporates arrived with all manner of craft made from plastics and things found in the rubbish.
The first race was families and youth and hotly contested by all along a course to the top of the marina adjacent to Sorrentos Restaurant and Bar, and back to the marina finger. The winning family entry was "Issy gonna float."
The second event was supposed to be the adults and corporates, but quickly descended into an "All In" death match as most youth teams lined up against the likes of Whitsunday Times, Eco Barge Services and Whitsunday Private Yacht Charters. Also joining this race was the Couchsurfing team who where later disqualified for using the unmeasurable power of celebrity - they had Blair McDonough on their team who paddled behind them with fins on!
The "All In" race made a great spectacle as the teams went out hard, some loosing components and one coming apart completely dumping the crew in the water. Eco Barge Services also found themselves upturned by another team.
The plastic litter on the water makes for the exact lesson that is so important to come from the event. While the debris was quickly and completely cleared up, the unsightly mess of plastic bottles blew on the wind to disburse quickly within the confines of the race area.
The message is clear, plastics + ocean don't mix well.
Onlooking was councillor Jan Clifford who reinforced her move to ban to have plastic bags banned from the Whitsundays, if not from all of Queensland. The alternative is the possiblity of rivers and the ocean looking like the adjacent photos.
Winners at the marina - Recyclable Regatta
Family division: Flight Centre vouchers - Issy gonna float
All In: Flight Centre, Beachworx voucher - Whitsunday Times
Bareboat open day door prize of $500: Alana Robertson from Tasmania
"Ocean Sweep": $100 Kiwi (donated back to the festival)
Thank you the sponsors
ChannelWhitsunday.com
Meridien Marinas Abel Point Marina
Queensland Yacht Charters
Whitsunday Escape
Charter Yachts Australia
Whitsunday Private Yacht Charters
Cumberland Charters Yachts
Sorrento Restaurant and Bar - Prizes
Beachworx - Prizes
Flight Centre - Prizes
Aquadive - Stinger suits and life jackets
