Sunshine Coast Daily, 30th January 2012

Club Defends Incident Response

THE boss of a Mooloolaba club swamped by young revellers on Australia Day has defended the decision to stage a youth event and said security personnel did the best they could under difficult circumstances.

An estimated 1500 partygoers descended on The Yacht Club on Mooloolaba Spit after an attempt to expose the venue to a younger market went “viral” on Facebook.

The club became packed with young people, many of them drunk, leading to several altercations between security staff and the revellers.

The Daily has received a number of letters from people angry at the way club officials and security reacted, including allegations of a young man being pushed down a set of stairs and “senior club members” being put in wristlocks and marched from the premises.

The club’s general manager, Matt Dillon, said there was no denying there had been some problems with the “one-off event” which was organised to show younger people the traditionally-conservative club was open to people other than yacht owners.

When he heard the event had been a “hit” on Facebook, he organised for 10 security staff to be on site and liaised closely with police and licensing officials.

“The whole idea was to use Australia Day as an event to let young people of the Sunshine Coast know that they are welcome to come and join The Yacht Club – that they don’t have to be a sailor or own a boat,” he said.

“It was a one-off event to get that message out – not something we ever planned to repeat.”

Mr Dillon said only 850 people were allowed into the club at any time and the event ran smoothly until about 7.45pm when there was an altercation between several patrons and security staff.

Four bouncers were needed to restrain a “large young man” who broke free as he was being escorted from the club and a window was broken in the melee.

“It was a very unfortunate incident and it happened in front of a lot of people,” Mr Dillon said.

“It was one of only two incidents that involved a small minority and gave the day a bad taste.”

Mr Dillon said he was “generally happy” with the way security staff handled the situation.

“It’s hard to be critical because we’re not the ones being abused and spat on by young guys – big young guys,” he said.

He confirmed a club member had been thrown out by a security guard after a “misunderstanding” but he had since met with the member and apologised.

“I don’t believe this has caused long-term damage to the membership base we have got,” he said.

Police confirmed several young people were arrested at the event and charged with alcohol and public nuisance offences.

The Australian National Hobie Cat Championship Regatta was held in Mooloolaba from the 2^nd to the 6^th of January. Hosted jointly by the Sunshine Coast Yacht Club (SCYC), The Yacht Club (TYC), and Mooloolaba Marina, the regatta was a resounding success according to all reports from competitors, organisers and public alike.

Twelve months of planning, meetings and organisation preceded the regatta, cementing relationships between the SCYC and TYC, and Mooloolaba Marina. “We are very pleased with the outcome of the event and the commitment and support from all the groups involved,” said Heinz Seeberg Commodore of the Sunshine Coast Yacht Club. Equally pleased are the Queensland Hobiecat Association. Sarah Turnbull, Secretary of the Queensland Hobiecat Association described the event as “such a success” and reported that the association was very impressed with the co-operation from everyone which enabled the sailors to enjoy great sailing as well as great social time.

Five of the Sunshine Coasts best weather days were the back drop for the 80 Hobies (16s and 18s) competing over five divisions. Visitors and locals were treated to a daily exhibition of colourful sails criss-crossing the ocean just off Mooloolaba and Alexandra Headland. For the competitors, the conditions were varied from challenging all the way down to testing light breezes with the wind and swell putting on a variety of performances as the week progressed.

If you ventured down to The Yacht Club during the regatta you would have been witness to or even joined in the excitement of the day as locals and competitors, including teams from New Zealand, New Caledonia and France, enthusiastically shared stories of their day’s triumphs or tragedies over a cold drink or three.

The final day of the regatta finished with a rousing dinner in The Yacht Club’s function centre, attended by around 200 competitors and a group of organisers from the Sunshine Coast Yacht Club. In between dinner, drinks and stories, awards were presented to all the winners, as well as a few mentions for some embarrassing moments experienced by a select few.  Appreciation and applause was rallied for the Sunshine Coast Yacht Club and their crew of 40 volunteers who supported the Hobies with Race Committee crew, safety and rescue crews, mark crews and numerous on land tasks such as radio room control and boat launching. Additionally, The Yacht Club and Mooloolaba Marina were thanked for their enormous support with the venue and facilities, as well as their donation of a Mega Esky full of beer for the SCYC raffle (won by Julie Halverson).

Sunshine Coast Yacht Club is looking forward to a bright sailing future for the region. Following the outstanding success of the Australian National Hobiecat Championship Regatta, the SCYC is in discussions with an enthusiastic group from The Queensland Hobie Cat Association who are looking to conduct regular short course racing events.  Through the combined efforts of the SCYC and The Yacht Club and Mooloolaba Marina, events such as these and other regattas look set to become regular features of the Sunshine Coast’s sailing calendar at Mooloolaba Marina.