Lake Eyre flooding inspires first yacht club regatta in three years

By Australian Geographic April 10, 2019
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This looks fun.

EAGER AUSSIE Yachtsman will haul their boats across the outback for the  Lake Eyre Yacht Club Regatta, known as the Outback Spirit.

This will be the first time the regatta has been held since 2016. The event will take place from 16-19 April.

Lake Eyre is flooding due to recent heavy rainfall, transforming South Australia’s outback into a desert oasis creating temporary, yet perfect conditions for the yachties.

The regatta will include various yacht races and expeditions that will primarily be held on the Cowarie Lakes, a smaller waterway of Lake Eyre.

Lake Eyre Yacht Club Commodore Bob Backway said water levels are set to be the highest since the early 1990s.

“There are maximum peak volumes in the rivers and there’s another flood that’s going to come down now,” he said.

“Originally we were going to have a race down the Warburton River but because of the size of the flood it became impossible.

“Now we’re going to the Cowarie Lakes, which is 2m deep, and we’ll have a camp there, we’ll have races each day and some days we’ll have exploration trips.

“This lake has some interesting parts in it so we’re going to explore.”