ENVIRONMENT
Darwin, Australia's Beer Can Regatta
Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory, hosts a truly unique festival once every year.
11 August, 2016
To celebrate the Beer Can Regatta, empty beverage containers are transformed into unique watercraft for charity.
Like most things worth doing, it took time: The Beer Can Regatta in Australia didn't start out as one of the most fun events Down Under, or set out to be a premier attraction that put aluminium recycling on the radar. In the beginning, some Australians say, they were trying to build morale after Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin and the Northern Territory on Christmas Day 1974.
As part of the cleanup, attention turned to all the beer cans strewn in the streets – and the idea of building boats, holding races, and celebrating a festival was born. But like most good folklore, those facts are disputed and have changed over time.
As part of the cleanup, attention turned to all the beer cans strewn in the streets – and the idea of building boats, holding races, and celebrating a festival was born. But like most good folklore, those facts are disputed and have changed over time.
It was 1974, that much everyone agrees on, and the regatta was sparked by a creative idea to clean up the environment. Back then, no one knew the Darwin Lions Beer Can Regatta was going to become world-famous. "We cleaned up the area and turned a by-product into a huge festival," says co-creator Lutz Frankenfeld, who has watched the race from Mindil Beach to Katherine change dramatically since.
This year, the annual July race featured a flotilla of festive beer-can entries built of recycled aluminium – including the winning entry from Team Laser. They edged out a dozen other competitors, including the pirate-themed Team EFS of the Black Pearl, and the ladies aboard the good ship Floaty McFloat Face.
This year, the annual July race featured a flotilla of festive beer-can entries built of recycled aluminium – including the winning entry from Team Laser. They edged out a dozen other competitors, including the pirate-themed Team EFS of the Black Pearl, and the ladies aboard the good ship Floaty McFloat Face.
The charity event attracted 15,000 spectators and raised nearly $50,000 for various causes, but the beer-can construction always draws attention to the original goal of cleaning up the beach and caring for the planet. The materials used in building the boats have changed over time, because before the near-universal change to aluminium in beer packaging, most of the cans were steel.
The regatta old-timers still remember how they used to power their recycled creations with outboard motors, but for speed and safety reasons, Darwin's daring seafarers-for-a-day stopped using them. At 28 knots – about 32 mph or 52 km/h – the aluminium cans start to crush, so contestants now use people power to propel their boats.
Image: austramania.blogspot.fr/
The regatta old-timers still remember how they used to power their recycled creations with outboard motors, but for speed and safety reasons, Darwin's daring seafarers-for-a-day stopped using them. At 28 knots – about 32 mph or 52 km/h – the aluminium cans start to crush, so contestants now use people power to propel their boats.
Image: austramania.blogspot.fr/
While everyone appreciates the design creativity of the boat entries – there have been double-decker London buses, Viking ships, tiki-hut pontoons and last year's Extravacanz catamaran – there actually are rules. First of all, the competition is a treasure hunt more than it is a race. The regatta crews are looking for a specific object in the waters off the beach, and they have to return it to shore in order to claim annual bragging rights. The real fun is during what's dubbed the Battle of Mindil, because once a boat finds the treasure, all other contestants are allowed to fight for it using water bombs, flour attacks, and other "weapons."
But the designs do matter. The Extravacanz was built with 6,700 cans around a steel frame. Most of the entries use about 5,000 aluminium cans; on average, the boats are smaller and use about 2,500 cans. The teams collect them for their boat construction in different ways – that's a lot of beer to drink! – but few of them are collected at the festival itself.
Organizers say it was a drinking festival back in the day, but in recent years the Darwin Beer Can Regatta is a family-friendly beach day that also offers silly contests like flip-flop tosses, sandcastle competitions, and new ways to keep the cleanup tradition.
For the winners, there are also the trophies. Like everything else, they're made in the shape of a beer can.
Organizers say it was a drinking festival back in the day, but in recent years the Darwin Beer Can Regatta is a family-friendly beach day that also offers silly contests like flip-flop tosses, sandcastle competitions, and new ways to keep the cleanup tradition.
For the winners, there are also the trophies. Like everything else, they're made in the shape of a beer can.
