Regattas had been held at Queenscliff in the 1850s between the crews of the Customs, Pilots and Health Officer’s boats. The year 1862 marked the first regatta when the fishermen joined in. In 1865 it was the fishermen themselves who organised their first regatta, and these Fishermen’s Regattas became an annual event, held either at New Year or at Easter time.
Queenscliff fishermen successfully sailed their working boats against boats built for pleasure in races up the Bay. In 1888 Ben Chidgey won the Hundred Pound Cup at Hobson’s Bay, and in 1890 Walter Shapter won the Mordialloc Regatta. This did not sit well with the city folk, and in 1890 the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, and the Yacht Clubs at Hobson’s Bay, Brighton and St Kilda excluded fishermen from their races on the grounds ‘that they were professionals.’
These days, the Couta Boat Association is very pleased with its association with the Classic Yacht Association of Australia and has again invited the Williamstown-based classic yachts to join in the Queenscliff Regatta 2010.
Download the full regatta program here