Building on the Breakfast with the Stars, the 2025 Southern 80 will feature boats from all eras of the race’s 60-year history. Victoria Park is now set to host the 2025 event, as announced by the Moama Water Sports Club on Thursday.
Photo by
Josh Huntly
Moama Water Sports Club on Thursday announced additional details for this year’s Southern 80 boat show, as the club’s marquee event celebrates its 60th anniversary.
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Marked down for Saturday, March 22, the club has now confirmed that the boat show will be held at Victoria Park from noon to 6pm.
Entry will be $5, with the event to feature a display of iconic boats from the past 60 years of the water ski race.
With ski racing suspended by the sports governing body, Ski Racing Australia, as it investigates safety concerns, MWSC opted to run the boat show as an alternative to the race itself.
The event will see Victoria Park packed with classic and modern vessels, with owners on-hand to discuss and showcase their boats.
“It's just about getting everyone to chinwag and talk about some of those old boats because there's some ripper old boats still around and quite a lot of them are still in Echuca,” MWSC president Steve Shipp said.
A bar and food vendors will be in attendance for refreshments as event-goers discuss and appreciate the vessels on show.
Without the racing element, boat owners have the opportunity to break out classic crafts that may no longer be race-worthy and share them with the viewing public.
“That's what we wanted to do is get those people to bring those old race boats out of the shed and put them on display,” Shipp said.
Plenty of prominent boats will be taking part, with many more to be added in the lead-up to the event.
“I understand that ‘Mr Walker’ is coming down from Queensland,” Shipp said.
“Mr Walker was the first triple rig to run the race and that was many, many years ago.”
The Mr Walker vessel was previously present at the race’s 50th anniversary.
Modern mainstays of recent 80s are also set to return to the region, ‘99 Psycho Clowns’ one of the first to confirm its involvement on social media.
99 Psycho Clowns has announced its intentions to feature in the 2025 Southern 80 boat show.
Boats will be grouped by decades so event-goers can get an insight into the types of vessels present in each era of the 80.
MWSC is seeking expressions of interest from boat owners who wish to take part in the show. Only hours after the announcement, the club said the response had already been encouraging.
Interested boat owners are encouraged to follow the links on the Southern 80 Facebook page or website and register their interest in joining the event as an exhibitor.
Links are also available for food vendors who would like a presence at the show.
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