At the marina is a large fuel dock
supplying both petrol and diesel
pumps (with High Flow coming soon
along with an after-hours service). The
marina caters for superyachts, right
down to trailer sailers and tinnies. The
five-lane boat ramp is popular with
trailer groups including MacGregor-
brand owners who use it as a launching
base for the Whitsundays.
“We try to keep charges reasonable
and we offer ramp-rate special deals,”
said Anderson.
Constructing the marina was a
challenging task as Mackay has a 6.5m
tidal range and the last phase was only
completed in 2006; while current work
includes repairing some storm damage.
When Cyclone Debbie slammed into
Mackay last year, the city and marina
were hit. “But we didn’t lose a single
boat, despite many of the pontoons
being damaged,” said Anderson.
Currently, the Mackay Marina is
the largest base in the district for the
maintenance, refit and related services
for all marine craft, particularly
superyachts. The Mackay Whitsunday
Superyacht Cluster, a group of regional
companies focusing on providing
integrated repair, refit and provisioning
for superyachts, was established in
2001 to support and promote the
development of this sector.MACKAY COAST
Mackay is 970km north of Brisbane
and known as the sugar city, given its
output is about a third of Australia’s
total. Average maximum temperatures
range from 30°C in summer to 23°C in
winter, while minimums range from
23°C to 11°C respectively; with nearly
constant sunshine.
Environmental challenges include
the vast 6.5m tidal range and, of course,
occasional cyclones. Visiting boaters
have plenty to experience such as the
nearby Cumberland Islands and the
Whitsundays farther north. Onshore,
there’s the Bluewater Trail that has
cycleways around town and to theBotanic Gardens. Mackay City has its
own regional airport with direct flights
from Brisbane (with connecting flights
from Sydney and Melbourne), so it’s
ideal for basing your boat there for the
season.INDUSTRY INSIDER VIEW
During his 16 years running
brokerages, Ben Anderson has seen
several trends come and go. “The latest
is a move by older sailors towards
passagemaking motorboats and of
course, the popularity of multihulls.”
Unlike those docked down south,
catamaran owners aren’t charged
double, but at 30 per cent on top of a
monohull berth. “And we have lots of
cat berths, so are setup for them.”
Looking at the brokerages’ current
listings, there are a wide variety of
craft – including a recent Fountaine
Pajot Lavezzi 40 bluewater cruising
catamaran ($299K) to a 47-foot long-
range ferro cruiser ($79K). In between,
are plenty of classic brands including
a sturdy Bertram 35, a classy Azimut
39 and even a wooden surfboat. Other
notable listings include workboats and
sportsfishers; both popular craft for
this region teeming with game fish.
The marina is very experienced in
hosting visiting yachts, and indeed
entire fleets including the upcoming
World ARC Rally this year and hopefully
another Oyster World Rally. “But our
superyacht business is being hampered
by both State and Federal red tape;
something that has to change,” said
Anderson. A small improvement
has been the relaxation of access to
Whitsunday anchorages for visiting
foreign boats.
In August 2017, 21 superyacht
anchorages were introduced into the
Whitsundays Planning Area. These are
available for superyachts less than 70
metres and carrying no more than 12
people, other than master and crew.
They are provided to offer recreational
users and commercial operators a
range of opportunities in the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Looking towards the future,
Anderson expects a major boost to the
white boat sector with New Zealand
hosting the upcoming America’s
Cup, and he sees Mackay as being
positioned to cater for them.FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit peterhansen.com.autradeboats.com.au 27