LAT LONG: 12° 26’S 130° 49’E
The Darwin Lions
Beer Can Regatta
Darwin captured international attention 44 years ago with the world’s first regatta
for boats made from beer cans. Today, the Top End tradition still draws an eclectic
seafaring fleet and would-be naval architects, all keen to claim line honours.STORY A ND PHOTOGR A PH Y BY PETA BURTON120 Australian GeographicThe first Darwin Beer Can Regatta
poster, from 1974 (above).
Thong-throwing (right) needs
focus when you’re only this high
surrounded by a crowd of 16,000.T
INNIDEX, LASER, Big Smoke Bottle Boat,
Good Glitter, Black Pearl and Duke’s Mob
are ready to race and thousands will see
them do battle at Mindil Beach.
It’s the 2016 Darwin Lions Beer Can
Regatta and competitors are set to paddle self-built,
aluminium-can-clad craft around a one nautical mile
course in Darwin Harbour. While thong-throwing,
tug-of-war and sandcastle competitions occupy the
audience, the regatta’s dedicated crews make minor adjust-
ments to their unorthodox vessels – as well as to their
outfits and plans to win the coveted Beer Can Cup.
Since the regatta began in 1974, its gold-coin entry
fee has raised more than $1.47 million for Northern
Territory causes. Worthy projects supported by the funds
range from a new ambulance to the non-profit Riding
for the Disabled. The regatta is a feel-good event buoy-
ant with fun, camaraderie and clever creations.
One local known for his beer-can constructions is
Mick Keeley, who has previously won the Superboats
Class for his vessels Grogmonsta and Extravacanz. “Both
carried 80-plus people but Extravacanz was a 30,000-
can, two-storey catamaran and even had a water cannon,”
the non–beer drinking fitter and turner informs me.
Darwin marine technician Paul Rich started with a
tri-hull, kayaks and boogie-board boat before building
Coke-A-Dile, which claimed a best Soft Drink Boat
honour. Then he created Pure Blonde Croc. “They were
beauties, but, for me, it’s about involving my kids and
seeing families and school kids take part in this iconic
event,” he says.
Winning is the drawcard for other competitors.
“We’ve driven our [5000] plastic wine-bottle craft, Big
Smoke Bottle Boat, [almost 5000km] from Sydney to
take the trophy off the Territorians,” says Alan Jones.
Although enthusiasm and commitment help with
finishing first, success also requires mathematics and
engineering knowledge, ingenuity and even heroism.At 3pm, the starter horn blasts and a flurry of alu-
minium exits the foreshore to begin the race. Lutz
Frankenfeld, aged 74 and the founder and former chair-
man of the regatta, watches on.
“This event has come a long way,” he says. “In 1973
Swan Brewery approached Paul Rice-Chapman from
NT News about staging a sports event in Darwin. He
then sought my input and six months later I’d built the
world’s first beer-can boat prototype. Dry Ark was made
of 780 cans with 25 horsepower on the back. I set upA vibrant bunch of determined
milllennials makes a strong start
on board their soft-drink-can
craft, Duke’s Mob, during the
regatta’s main race.HISTORICAL IMAGE: LUTZ FRANKENFELD