Rising costs may stymie Geelong hosting SuperFoiler event

GEELONG is at risk of losing hosting rights for the second SuperFoiler Grand Prix when the sailing event returns to Australian waters next summer.

Corio Bay was one of five venues to host the inaugural series last February, but SuperFoiler boss Bill Macartney said a second series won’t be held this summer.

Instead, the event will be revamped in October or November, with Geelong at risk of losing hosting rights due to exorbitant costs.

Macartney said Adelaide and Busselton were also very likely to be scrapped.

“It is most likely racing will be in the second half of the year and we’re assessing whether or not we come to Geelong and we don’t have an answer at this stage,” Macartney said. “I would think at the moment it’s probably unlikely that we will.

“We actually have got some support from Visit Victoria and from the council — they have stepped up — but despite that, it is a very expensive logistical exercise and we have to hit certain numbers for it to make sense for us. “It’s not finalised yet.” Sydney and the Gold Coast make more sense financially for the event, while Macartney said Geelong remained in the picture if a three-stage series was adopted.

Macartney had explored a Geelong-to-Melbourne race to provide a SuperFoiler presence in the Victorian capital, but that hasn’t eventuated, while Deakin University has offered to sponsor a Geelong leg, but Macartney said the numbers had to make sense.

“At this stage we’re reassessing everything,” he said.

“I’d say it’s very unlikely we’ll go to WA and probably very unlikely we’ll go to South Australia.

“Corio Bay is a perfect place for the racing as far as the sailors are concerned and the boys are very happy to race there, but we’ve got a variety of other considerations that we have to take into account. If we come to Victoria, the likelihood is it would be in Geelong.”

Macartney added that the 2019 series would see eight boats compete — up from six in the inaugural series — including more international teams, but there was a chance the second series could be just one mega-meeting in Sydney.