Whitsunday Sailing Club a step closer to state of the art training facility

New facilities will serve demand for more skippers, marine engineers and crew to work at island resorts and other Whitsunday tourism businesses.

Whitsunday Sailing Club’s general manager Robin Ross, training manager Kaye Williams, president Leo Rodriguez, Dawson MP George Christensen, and Whitsunday Sailing Club board member Terry Archer are excited about what's ahead for the Maritime Training Centre. Picture: Kirra Grimes.

Airlie Beach is set to become the major maritime training hub for central and north Queensland and beyond, after the federal government officially approved $2.5m in funds to upgrade Whitsunday Sailing Club.

The approval means the club is a step closer to constructing a state of the art training centre at its waterfront site, with plans for a two-storey extension to the existing clubhouse, incorporating classrooms, engineering workshops, and a lecture theatre.

Though more funds will be needed to realise the full vision, the club is already in the process of securing development approvals from the council.

They hope to have detailed designs finalised by the end of June, and begin construction before the end of the year, with new classrooms taking nine to 12 months to complete.

Club president Leo Rodriguez said existing training facilities were “certainly not built for purpose,” and training manager Kaye Williams had been lobbying all levels of government for upgrades for the past 15 years.

“We’ve outgrown the current facilities; they’ve always been a bit of an afterthought, even though training’s been a big part of the club for a long time,” he said.

“We want the new building to be something that will attract students from far and wide, not just within Australia but eventually from overseas as well – there’s quite a gap in the market there and we hope to fill that.”

Artist’s impression of what the new Maritime Training Centre might look like. Final designs are subject to council approval.

Mr Rodriguez said the new facilities would effectively double the existing training rooms’ square metreage, and quadruple the amount of students that could attend onsite at any one time.

“Simply having classrooms to be able to hold the courses we’re currently holding will be the biggest thing,” Mr Rodriguez said.

“Plus we’ll have the ability to expand and take up the demand that’s there.”

The ultimate goal is to offer degree-level qualifications, he said.

Dawson MP George Christensen supported the club throughout its funding campaign, and was there to deliver the good news in person today.

Mr Christensen said there was huge potential for the training centre, especially with regard to filling gaps in local employment.

“The tourism sector is desperate for skilled staff, from lower through to senior levels.

“Plus we’ve got industrial ports to the north and south where there’s also a requirement for maritime training.”