Australian Superyacht Rendezvous bows to pandemic for second year
Planned superyacht funfest on the Great Barrier Reef is officially put off for another yearThe Australian Superyacht Rendezvous’ planned return has been put back on hold as fears over more COVID-19 pandemic restrictions forces organisers to cancel this year’s event.
The week-long rendezvous, which aims to attract both Australian and international superyacht owners to some of Australasia’s best anchorages, was last held in 2019, with last year’s event planned for the Whitsundays also falling to the wayside due to the global pandemic.
This year’s event was scheduled to return to the Great Barrier Reef in October as part of an attempt to “showcase the Great Barrier Reef as an international superyacht charter destination”.
Boats were expected to come from New Zealand, the host of the latest edition of the America’s Cup campaign, as well as from Japan in the wake of the postponed 2020 Olympic Games that were postponed until later this year.
Troubling organisers were snap decisions to close state and territory borders in response to random coronavirus outbreaks surfacing mainly along Australia’s eastern seaboard – the region where most of the international superyachts would be arriving.
Not enough lead time
“We have remained positive about keeping options open to stage the Australian Superyacht Rendezvous in October 2020 – particularly in light of the sadness and disappointment that has come with so many events being cancelled, but we don’t feel there will be enough recovery time to be able to proceed with the event with the remaining lead time,” event organiser Paul Darrouzet, who also owns the Coral Sea Marina Resort that was to host the event, said.
“The implications of COVID-19, and subsequent international and domestic travel restrictions, financial and logistical issues are beyond our control and we have been left with no other option than to postpone,” he said.
Darrouzet said new dates would be announced soon.
The Palaszczuk government is working with Queensland-based marine businesses to develop southern Queensland as the go-to superyacht maintenance and refit hub in south-east Asia.
Superyacht owners also now have much complicated red tape when bringing in vessels from overseas, with the Federal Government easing the tax obligations of owners if they wanted to charter their foreign-flagged vessels here while they were laid up in Australian waters.
The Gold Coast region is also home to Australian luxury motor yacht makers Riviera and Maritimo.
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