{"id":898218,"date":"2026-06-28T07:54:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T07:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/898218\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T07:54:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T07:54:30","slug":"thousands-gather-for-iconic-beer-can-regatta-at-darwins-mindil-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/898218\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands gather for iconic Beer Can Regatta at Darwin’s Mindil Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homemade boats made mostly out of beer cans have battled it out in one of Darwin’s most iconic events at Mindil Beach.<\/p>\n

The annual Beer Can Regatta draws competitors together to race rafts engineered from drinking containers \u2014 the popular choice this year being beer or soft-drink cans.<\/p>\n

The 52nd edition of the event was full of entertainment on and off the water, including tug of war, iron man, and thong throwing.<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

Three boats competed at the Beer Can Regatta this year. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A team of military personnel competed in the race. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/p>\n

The boats came in different shapes and sizes. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Despite only three boats entering this year, the crowds at Mindil Beach were huge, numbering in the thousands.<\/p>\n

The event was also a fundraiser, with proceeds this year donated to St John NT and Mindil Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A thong throwing contest was also held at the event. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Competitor Corporal Rob Meharg, who is on a six-month rotation in Darwin, said he had wanted to enter the competition for 20 years.<\/p>\n

“This is absolutely bucket list sort of stuff,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Boy<\/p>\n

National pride was on show. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Kids had fun playing in the sand while the race was on. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

People of all ages attended the event. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Corporal Meharg said his team built their boat a little more than a week before the competition, scrounging together cans found in bins on a military base.<\/p>\n

“Our guys got together pretty much over the course of the weekend, and smashed it,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I reckon you could get to Indonesia on it; there’s enough flotation in this to lift the Titanic.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

The race was hotly contested. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

People enjoyed the dry season weather at Mindil Beach. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

The best viewing spot was in the water. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

He said he wasn’t worried about crocodiles in Darwin’s sometimes dangerous waters.<\/p>\n

“Strategy for that was to row faster, like row really fast,” he said.<\/p>\n

Corporal Mehard’s team, made up of various military personnel, won the boat race early Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"Crowd<\/p>\n

People in boats watched on. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Fellow competitor Ted Haniford said his son designed their ship last year.<\/p>\n

“He’d been in the Beer Can [Regatta] the year before and unfortunately it was more of a submarine than a ship, so he decided last year to build something a bit more substantial,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It is big, but we’ve got some good manpower.”<\/p>\n

\"Surf<\/p>\n

Surf lifesavers were on the look out for crocodiles. (ABC News: Dane Hirst\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Coralie Brannelly has been helping organise the event for more than 10 years, and has seen many boat designs in her time.<\/p>\n

“There’s a real emphasis on beer, but actually it wasn’t about that at all, it was about trying to reuse stuff that was around,” she said.<\/p>\n

“That’s what it comes down to, just thinking outside the box.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Homemade boats made mostly out of beer cans have battled it out in one of Darwin’s most iconic…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":898219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[12086,4740,363869,13265,363868,50,13264,13263],"class_list":["post-898218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-12086","tag-australia","tag-beer-can-regatta","tag-darwin","tag-mindil-beach","tag-news","tag-northern-territory","tag-nt"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116826662466091283","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}