Celebrating 60 years of Boree Regatta

Boree Regatta celebrated 60 years of competition on the water and fun on the land last weekend.

Held from 17-19 October at Bonna Point Reserve, Kurnell, the Boree Regatta brings together Scouts from the South Metropolitan Region and Girl Guides from the Southern Rivers Region for a weekend of fun, challenge and connection.

To celebrate, this year’s camp theme was all about style, confidence, and bringing your best self! Whether it was glam, goofy, retro, or runway, everyone was invited to show up with their most creative outfits.

There was a thrilling line-up of canoeing, kayaking, land and beach activities, including classic favourites like:

• The Raft Race – it was all about teamwork. Did the Patrols sink, swim, or paddle to the finish line?
• Tallest Flagpole Challenge – an old-school showdown of Scouts/Guides ingenuity.

NSW Opposition Leader and Member for Cronulla Mark Speakman visited the event, which was attended by about 600 Scouts and Guides.

Stepping through history

The first Boree was held in September 1965 in the grounds of North Caringbah Primary School. This Boree was limited to Cub Scouts, Scouts, Venturer Scouts and Rover Scouts of the then Caringbah District. Caringbah Guides also attended.

Following a successful Regatta for 1st Cronulla Scout Group’s 60th anniversary, it was decided by the Districts to combine the two events. Thus, a full weekend of activity became the Boree Regatta in 1976 where events like canoe racing and sailing were introduced.

State Commissioner (Heritage) Joe Attard was on hand in the Scout Heritage NSW tent. This time his display included collections from Scouts NSW’s many donors; items salvaged from Scout halls; international badges; and items specific to Boree to make history pop.

While it was a lot of hard work in challenging conditions, the smiles and happy faces made it all worth it.

Joey Fun

Many Joey Scouts enjoyed a day visit to the event on Saturday. While the older Scouts were out on the water, Joey Scouts took part in land-based regatta fun – sandcastle challenges, games, and a boatload of teamwork!

This included the brand-new Boree Land Race, where Units raced their Flintstone-style boats across the parade ground!

Joey Scout Leon from BLIA Sydney – Kogarah Scout Group had a great time at the event, taking part in a variety of activities and making new Scouting friends. He also had a go on the radio at the JOTA-JOTI base, and checked out some of our history at the Scouts NSW Heritage tent.

Trophy haul

1st Wearne Bay Scout Group had a fun-filled time, with 45 youth members taking part across the weekend.

The Group came home with shields, trophies and a number of places in races throughout the weekend including:

• King Neptune Trophy (Canoe Race Aggregate Points for Cub Scouts)
• Kurranulla Shield Boree Participation Award (Group)
• Joey Flotilla Race Trophy.

JOTA

Participants also joined in JOTA (Jamboree on the Air) activities, connecting with Scouts from all over the world through radio and online chats with the assistance of the St George Amateur Radio Society.

JOTA is a combined, worldwide activity between Scouts, Guides and Amateur Radio groups, and is part of a combined JOTA-JOTI event – JOTA using radio and JOTI using the internet for connectivity.

Scouts and Guides had the chance to take part in two different activities at the JOTA base:

• ON AIR – An opportunity to make voice contact with other Scouts and Guides somewhere in the world
• TREASURE (FOX) HUNT – Two radio transmitters (the Treasure) were hidden within the Boree Regatta campsite. Scouts and Guides had an opportunity to hunt for the hiding place using radio direction finding equipment.