Sail Port Stephens

04-May-2011

Mr CRAIG BAUMANN (Port Stephens) [6.25 p.m.]: Today I speak about the success of Sail Port Stephens, a major sailing festival in my electorate. From Monday 11 April to Sunday 17 April the blue water wonderland, also known as Port Stephens, attracted a fleet of 135 craft for the competition. Yachts from as far north as Mooloolaba and as far south as Melbourne booked out all available berths at the port's marinas at Nelson Bay, Corlette and Soldiers Point. The regatta incorporated the NSW IRC Championship, the SB3 Class Australian Championship and the Port Stephens trophy.
While the lure of serious competition attracted the yachties, the families and friends who prefer dry land were attracted by the countless charms of Port Stephens, creating a mini tourism boom. The 2000-plus visitors are estimated to have spent even more than the $1 million they injected into the local economy for the 2010 event. It started in 2008 with a grand idea and a syndicate of port businesses providing seed funding. The event has since attracted funding from both local and State governments, has been embraced by the yachties community and has found a firm place on the national regatta calendar. Organised by the Corlette Point Sailing Club in partnership with Events Port Stephens—an initiative of Port Stephens Council—the event is hailed as the fastest growing regatta in the Asia-Pacific, with industry experts believing the event will only continue to grow.
As with any success story there is a downside: there is not enough marina space in Port Stephens to cope with the demand. Organisers hope to see 200-plus boats in future regattas, but at this stage the lack of marina space prohibits growth at such a rate. It is easy for me as the member for paradise to say that the beauty of Port Stephens is unique. But out of the mouths of the sailors who have competed have come descriptions that they felt like they were in the wilderness, so magnificent and unspoiled is the scenery of Port Stephens. As it is only a daily sail from Sydney Port Stephens does not have the tyranny of distance suffered by other notable sailing spots along our coast. Apart from the geographical benefits of the area, the local community is passionate about it. The organisers have been keen to promote the event for the sailing community and the local community has reaped the inevitable rewards that come along with a successful tourism event. Statistics from last year's event reveal that of the 1,800 visitors, more than one-third chose to stay in Port Stephens for seven nights or more. The organisers of the event are to be congratulated and supported in their endeavours to have more infrastructures on our waterways.

The Port Stephens Great Lakes Marine Park zoning map is up for review. I call on those charged with that review to consider identifying appropriate sites for future marinas. As well as visiting yachts, Port Stephens hosts one of the State's largest game fish competitions, which is limited by the shortage of suitable marina berths. Normal boaties who just want to travel up the Myall River and laze around in the Myall Lakes area, spend a few days at Esmeralda Cove on Broughton Island, or simply drop a pick off a deserted beach and swim, snorkel or scuba dive, also need a base within Port Stephens to moor their vessels. Obviously I am the proud member of what is probably the most beautiful electorate in this State. A great part of that beauty is natural, without the development and population of other coastal communities. The downside to it is that external funding will be needed to build good, environmentally sympathetic facilities to allow boating tourists to savour paradise. I congratulate the organisers of Sail Port Stephens 2011 and wish them similar success in 2012.