2032 Olympics sailing events should be held in Townsville, sailors and competitors say

With the backdrop of Magnetic Island and glorious mid-year conditions, Townsville is the perfect option to host the 2032 Olympic sailing events, experts say. VOTE IN OUR POLL

With the backdrop of Magnetic Island and glorious mid-year conditions, Townsville is the perfect option to host the 2032 Olympic sailing events.

After this year’s Paris Olympics where events like sailing were held 800 kilometres away from the host city, North Queensland boaties, Olympians and leaders are arguing the case for Townsville to do the same in eight years’ time.

Townsville Olympian Breiana Whitehead has seen first-hand the effects of choosing the wrong location for the sport after a lack of wind in Marseilles put a halt to races, saying Townsville would be preferable to Brisbane’s Moreton Bay.

“It was pretty tough that the week the games landed on was definitely not a windy one,” Australian sailing’s female sailor of the year said.

“We had a lot of waiting, a lot of delays and only six out of the 16 planned races for us went ahead.

“For a Queensland event, it needs to be in North Queensland; there’s not really another option. (Wind) is really light in southern Queensland especially by the time you get to the games around that July, August period.”

Her father and secretary of the Townsville Yacht Club Murray Whitehead said there were five main prerequisites to hosting the event our city met — wind, accommodation options, an area on the beach for equipment and workshops, adequate marinas for safety and support vessels and a large bay to run multiple courses.

“All the things you need for an Olympic event are in abundance in Townsville,” Mr Whitehead said.

“Having a sailing event somewhere that doesn’t have a history of consistent wind is like having the Winter Olympics in Egypt. It just simply doesn’t work.”

Olympic sailor Breiana Whitehead says Townsville ticks all the boxes to be the perfect spot to host the sailing events in 2032. Picture: Evan Morgan

Townsville is already renowned as a spectacular sailing spot with hundreds of boaties sailing north for the annual Sealink Magnetic Island Race Week, which this year brought an economic boost of $2 million to the region.

Mr Whitehead said he had attended mid-year youth regattas in southeast Queensland with his daughter and been consistently disappointed with the poor sailing conditions.

“Queensland is quite limited in other places because of the lack of wind because of the latitude down in the south east corner,” he said.

Bambalam at the 2024 Sealink Magnetic Island Race Week

“There is also a possibility of swell in those places with an entrance.

“Areas such as Mooloolaba down on the Sunshine Coast, there’s opportunities along there but often the swell is quite significant getting in and out of the harbours.”

Mr Whitehead said Townsville also had the infrastructure needed to support athletes, coaches and families during the games and the training prior.

“Townsville has quite an abundance near The Strand of accommodation so we could accommodate people,” he said.

“You need an area on the beach to have essentially all the containers and workshop and the backup that’s required to unload the boats and just the way The Strand is laid out I believe The Strand Park and associated areas could accommodate what’s required.

“Having seen how it works, it’s a very big operation. The amount of gear that’s there for all of the classes, it would be a bit of a squeeze but it’s possible.”

Townsville Yact Club secretary Murray Whitehead with his daughter Olympic sailor Breiana. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mr Whitehead said the nearby Yacht Club and Breakwater marina were also up to standard to store equipment and support safety vessels.

“Probably the principle thing is the bay in Townsville is large enough to run at least three or four pretty good courses all within the bay, all with similar wind that would be a big advantage,” he said.

Ms Whitehead said it would be incredible to have her home town host the sport she has become so successful in on the Olympic global stage.

“It would be really cool putting Townsville on the map, I always get the feeling that we get a bit forgotten with all the big events so it would be cool to have all of the support that comes with it and to make it a bit more of a destination would be incredible,” she said.

“I’m probably a little bit biased because it’s home but we’ve got the beach, it’s warm almost all year ‘round which you don’t have in a lot of places … so I definitely think it would be appealing to many sailors.”

Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith said any chance to host events in North Queensland was “an incredible opportunity”.

“For almost two decades our region has proudly hosted the successful Magnetic Island Race Week, with the stunning backdrop of the islands, The Strand and Castle Hill – an Olympic sailing event here in Townsville would be a wonderful showcase of our region,” Ms Brumme-Smith said.

“Hosting events is only the start of the legacy opportunities for this state, but to ensure the Olympics is relevant to regions like ours, we need to see investment into critical sporting and entertainment infrastructure in regional areas.

“Townsville has long needed a new entertainment arena, a showcase venue for indoor sporting, concerts and exhibitions – something that could host Olympic training or games but provide benefit for our community for decades to come.”

A spokesman for the premier David Crisafulli said they won’t rule anything out regarding bringing events into the regions until the 100-day review for the games is completed.

“The Crisafulli Government will appoint an independent infrastructure coordination authority to conduct a 100-day review of all infrastructure and venue requirements for the Games, along with a delivery plan,” he said.

“The games will deliver legacy projects, including generational infrastructure for all Queenslanders.”

Originally published as 2032 Olympics sailing events should be held in Townsville, sailors and competitors say