Andy Harcourt, Larry Kleist and Trevor Martin anchored critical management pillars, orchestrating a month-long masterclass in event staging. The team was strongly supported by the Worlds Committee which had attached key RQYS personnel and Committee Chairs such as Greg Kemp (Sailing) and Stewart Cumming (House). RQYS Life Member Tim Green freely made his fine vessel Rous Explorer available every day of the events! Entertainment and media In another historic first for a World Championship, the event successfully blended elite sport with mainstream entertainment in staging a premier rock concert between the championship segments, featuring “Filthy Animals” — a supergroup of Australia’s finest musicians. This event became a massive digital asset, with over 800,000 people viewing online, driving unprecedented non-sailing demographic engagement to the venue and sponsors, and giving visitors another event to be remembered. Unprecedented media impact and global reach, driven by Mike (Spikey) Middleton, saw the February 2026 events deploy an Olympic-scale broadcast strategy that delivered premium, high-fidelity footage to a global audience. This program was well supported by RQYS Marketing & Communications Manager Simone Hasker. The regatta achieved the most successful media coverage for a standalone sailing event — exceeding five million national and international hits across all digital, print, and broadcast platforms — the most successful (media-wise) event since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Return on investment and acknowledgements The regattas drew the largest Australian Finns fleet since the inaugural 1956 Nationals. The continuous three-week format allowed international teams, open-class professionals, Under-29 athletes, and hundreds of veteran Masters to compete on a single world ‘stage’ on our own Moreton Bay, optimising vessel measuring and global container logistics to ship boats and gear from around the world to RQYS Manly. A special note of thanks to the Australian Government for facilitating Customs clearances for the Finns’ shipping, too, and to the Member for Bonner, Kara Cook MP, for her support, and to Damian Pugh from new sponsor Helm Insurance. This event provided unparalleled worldwide exposure and local economic impact, directly benefiting host venue RQYS and our premier corporate partners. Our community gained a high return, from accommodation to restaurants and bars over the five weeks competitors and supporters were in town — over $4.8m was spent across the month within the local Bayside community alone! Squadron sponsors Yachtshare, Gill and many others basked in the high visibility of the events, and the contributions of Members including Bradley Ginnivan, John Costin and Craig Padman (as well as many others) were invaluable in delivering such successful regattas. Space precludes naming the many other individuals and organisations instrumental to the success of this 2026 ‘FINN-tastic February’ program, but we particularly thank the Queensland Government and The Hon. Tim Mander MP, Minster for Sport and Racing and Minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor Cr Adrian Shrinner and Lady Mayoress Nina, and the Business Economic Development Agency (BEDA), were fully engaged with the month-long events, and great support was provided by our local Wynnum-Manly Ward Councillor Alex Givney. Finally, thanks to David Crosdale and Kristin Kafantaris from Porsche Centre Brisbane for all of their active and enthusiastic engagement! Alessandro Marega’s roar of joy at the first-ever Italian win of a Finn Gold World Cup Championship is almost audible in this winning photo! Pic: Supplied Above: Our own YASC Chair Hayden Barney took out the U-29 Worlds Silver trophy! Below right: World Champion in the ‘Classic’ category was Kerry Spencer in his beautiful timber 045. Below: That’s the stage lighting reflecting the faces of Bradley Ginnivan and his mate – seriously! Bottom: A vibrantly ‘filthy’ musical evening on Rigging Lawn 1 was another highlight! All pics: Supplied 21 Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Yearbook Mainsheet 2026
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