Darwin Lions BEER Can Regatta

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Yes you read it right, from the land known for its beers comes an annual regatta which is held in Mindil Beach, Darwin (Australia).

What makes this regatta special is that the boats are made form beer cans. The “Darwin Lions Can Regatta” is one of the most sought after sailing events in Australia. Other than the unusual boats, it’s the festivity during the event that keeps people coming again and again for the past 33 years.



This particular regatta was also on the list of Dave Freeman the person who wrote the book '100 Things To Do Before You Die'. He passed away last month, having worked his way through half the list.


Let the Festivities begin –

Other than the beer boat race there are several other on water and on ground events that take place which make the crowd a big participating part of the event. Infact in their rules and regulations they have mentioned that ‘the most important rule of all… Be in it and have fun, fun, fun...’

Some of the events and competitions include -
Best Soft Drink Can Boat
Best Beer Can Boat
Kids Sand Castle Competition
Tug of War for ladies, kids, men
Ladies Thong Throwing
Click here to read more about the events.



One of the more popular events in the regatta is the ‘Battle of Mindil’
“Battle of the Mindil” is a boat race where anything goes; flour bombs, water sprays etc. The boats sail around the course and have to find an object that has been hidden under water somewhere in the course. The winner is the finder of the object.


Below is a video which covers the event and its festivities -



History –

The Beer Can Regatta originally started when Cyclone Tracy hit the then town on Christmas Eve, 1974. the cyclone caused a lot of damage on huge quantities of materials and manpower.

As many of the rebuilding work force personnel were from the southern states, and were not used to the humidity, the consumption of canned beer increased dramatically which further led to a big problem of large quantities of beer can put all over the streets.

A Darwin citizen, Lutz Frankenfeld, came up with the suggestion that Darwin should hold a boat race, with all the boats fabricated out of beer cans. The theory was that this would give the local population and workers alike, an incentive to clear up some of the empty beer cans, and at the same time have a day of fun. And thus began the first ever beer can regatta in 1975.



Years ago the Lions club of Darwin took up the responsibility to setup this event annually and is now known as the “Darwin Lions Can Regatta”
Quite an interesting history isn’t it.



All the money generated during this event is given away to local charity institutions by the association. The 2009 Darwin Lions Beer Can Regatta will be held on Sunday 19th July 2009, and the 2008 Darwin Lions Beer Can Regatta was held on Sunday 13th July 2008 at Mindil Beach. The date changes annually due to the tides.

Official website - http://www.beercanregatta.org.au/