History

The Festival of Sails combines history with tradition; heritage with technology; tactics with teamwork.

First held in 1844, the Festival of Sails has consistently attracted the highest calibre of sailing craft and crew, family and friends, attracting over 100,000 visitors every January, held at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club (RGYC) and along Geelong waterfront.

In 1997, the successful merger of the Geelong Waterfront Festival and RGYC’s historic Australia Day Regatta saw the beginning of a new major event in Victoria – the Festival of Sails. The Festival of Sails is strongly supported by the Victorian Government and the City of Greater Geelong, along with several other stakeholders.

Festival of Sails is particularly famous for its Melbourne to Geelong Passage Race – the oldest sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere – which kicks off the festival each year.