History of Darwin Lions Beer Can Regatta

The Beer Can Regatta has run for 35 years since 1974 and the Combined Lions Clubs of Darwin have been promoting the event for most of this time.  Funds generated during the day are donated to various charities in the Darwin region each year.

The main boat races are between boats built out of beer or soft drink cans.  The Beer Can Regatta is very much family day out for locals and is rapidly becoming a spectacular for the tourists to Darwin who line Mindil Beach cheering as the home made boats of cans wallow, flounder and sink. The fleet includes all kinds of boats; sometimes fitted with fire hoses and top secret "weaponry".

The Darwin Beer Can Regatta is commonly believed to have started as an unusual by-product of the devastation caused to Darwin by Cyclone Tracy in December 1974.  However, there is good evidence that the Beer Can Regatta actually started around five months before Cyclone Tracy in July of the same year under the auspices of Lutz Frankenfeld.

Owing to the considerable damage caused by Cyclone Tracy there were large quantities of materials and manpower from interstate were brought to Darwin to assist in the rebuilding of the city. Many of the rebuilding work force personnel were from the southern states and not used to the humidity the consumption of canned beverages increased dramatically. This resulted in an abundance of empty cans littering the many work sites around Darwin, and as there were no recycling programmes in effect at the time, the beer cans became a litter problem and certainly the Beer Can Regatta was an aid in that clean-up process.

The inaugural beer can regatta in 1974 was an instant success, and it was decided that it would be an annual event developing into a major event on the Darwin social and tourism calendar. Organised by various groups over the years it went from success to success, with boat entries ranging in numbers from 15 to 65, and in size from one metre to twelve metres.

In the mid to late 70s, the combined Lions Clubs of Darwin took on the task of organising the event and it is now known as the Darwin Lions Clubs Beer Can Regatta.