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Water sports

With over 1,800 kilometres of coastline and a number of large lakes throughout the state, Victoria is an ideal location for a number of water-based competition sports.

Surfing

While surfers can be seen at many beaches along the coast of Victoria, the place to go to see the best in the world is Bells Beach. Each year, around Easter, top surfers from around the globe head to Bells for the Rip Curl Pro event.

The Rip Curl Pro is one of the legs of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, a series of events in which surfers vie for points to determine the annual world champion. The Rip Curl Pro has been running since 1971 and is considered to be the top pro surfing competition in Australia.

Bells Beach is located south of Geelong, near Torquay. Although this is the usual site of the Rip Curl Pro, if conditions are not favourable for surfing at Bells Beach, the event may occasionally be moved to another site.

In addition to the surfing action, there is also a music festival held in conjunction with the event, with live bands playing on the cliff top.

Further information:
- Rip Curl Pro: www.ripcurl.com.au/events
- Other Victorian surfing competitions: www.surfingaustralia.com/vic

Water skiing

The major water skiing event in Victoria is the Moomba Masters Championship. Since its inception in 1961, it has been held as a part of the annual Moomba Festival, which occurs on the Labour Day long weekend in March each year.

Considered one of the top competitions in the world, the Moomba Masters attracts the top skiers from around the globe. It includes both junior and senior competitions, commencing during the week before Moomba and concluding on Labour Day. Events include slalom, jump, trick and wakeboard competitions. It also includes barefoot skiing and a ski show.

The event is held on the Yarra River, just south-east of the Melbourne city centre, in the area bordered by the Alexandra Gardens and Birrarung Marr. The sloping river bank is a great place to sit and relax, and take in all the action on the river.

Further information:
- Moomba Masters: www.moombamasters.com.au

Sailing

There are numerous yacht clubs scattered around Victoria which conduct their own regular club events, usually during the warmer months of the year, with some also hosting more elite competitions.

The Ocean Racing Club of Victoria organises a series of races in late December each year. On Boxing Day (26th December), the Cock of the Bay race runs from Port Melbourne at the northern end of Port Phillip Bay to Blairgowrie at the southern end. The next day, three races to Tasmania commence. The Melbourne to Hobart race starts at Portsea, at the southern end of Port Phillip Bay. It was first sailed in the early 1970s and took yachts down the west coast of Tasmania and on to Hobart. In 2008, a second race in which the yachts sail along the east coast was added to the program. The original course is now known as the Westcoaster and the newer course as the Eastcoaster. December 27th also sees the commencement of the Melbourne to Launceston race. This event also starts from Portsea and finishes at Low Head, at the mouth of the Tamar River.

Another event on Victoria's sailing calendar is Sail Melbourne. This regatta is part of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, a series of events held in seven different countries, which attracts some of the world's best sailors. The event is held on Port Phillip Bay and hosted by the Sandringham Yacht Club which is located at Picnic Point, Sandringham.

For a race with a difference, head to Marlay Point on the Gippsland Lakes, near Sale for the Marlay Point Overnight Yacht Race. Hosted by the Lake Wellington Yacht Club, it is one of the largest races for trailerable yachts in Australia. The race starts at Marlay Point on the western side of Lake Wellington on the Saturday evening of the Labour Day long weekend. The sight of more than a hundred boats jostling for position at the start is quite spectacular. After navigating McLennan Strait to reach Lake Victoria, the race finishes at Paynesville.

There are also both state and some national class championships hosted by various yacht clubs around the state each year.

Further information:
- Ocean Racing Club of Victoria: www.orcv.org.au
- Sail Melbourne: www.sailmelbourne.com.au
- Yachting Victoria: www.vic.yachting.org.au