Airlie Beach is home to one of the largest yacht racing regattas in Australia, Airlie Beach Race Week and its onshore Festival of Sailing.
Hosted by the Whitsunday Sailing Club and now in its 33rd year, Airlie Beach Race Week is a seven day event that attracts entrants from all over Australia and overseas.
Offshore the Regatta offers classes from IRC competitive racing through to cruising divisions attracting around 1450 competitors, officials and volunteers.
Onshore the Festival of Sailing, is the Whitsunday Coasts’ most significant public event, presenting seven days and nights of high profile, entertainment and social activities. In 2019 attendances peaked at over 11,000.
The 2020 event brought about an enormous overhaul to the event to fit within the strict guidelines associated with COVID-19 however the event still went ahead as planned on a vastly smaller scale much to the delight of the Queensland crews.
2021 will see the event return to the Whitsunday Sailing Club once again bigger and better than ever.