AUSTRALIAN SUPERYACHTS | CASE STUDY

Sydney 2000 Olympics

The temporary superyacht marina that stayed open for ten years, and the industry it started

Facts

Event	Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
Facility	Rozelle Bay Superyacht Marina, Sydney Harbour: 27 stern-to berths for yachts of 30 to 75 m, built in 1999 as a temporary facility for the Games
Role	Captain Richard Morris, Marina Manager for the NSW Waterways Authority (later NSW Maritime), and agent for the visiting superyachts
Period	June 1999 to July 2009
Superyachts in Sydney for the Games	About 40
Legacy	A temporary Olympic marina that stayed open for a decade, and a permanent superyacht industry in Sydney

The problems we solved

Nowhere for superyachts to go

The problem: A 1998 feasibility study for the Olympic organising committee forecast demand for about 100 superyacht berths at the peak of the Games, against 66 suitable berths in Sydney, and very little infrastructure to serve the yachts that came.
What we did: A purpose-built temporary marina was constructed at Rozelle Bay in 1999. Richard, a former superyacht captain, joined the project in June 1999 and became its Marina Manager, setting up the berths, services and procedures for yachts of up to 75 metres.
The result: The first yachts berthed for the Millennium New Year, and the marina was complete in April 2000, ready for the Games.

Forty superyachts for the Olympic Games

The problem: About 40 superyachts came to Sydney Harbour for the Games, spread across more than a dozen marinas and moorings, each needing berths, pilots, customs and immigration clearance, fuel, provisions and services in a city that had never handled a fleet like it.
What we did: Richard coordinated the berthing of the visiting fleet across the harbour and, as Marina Manager, also acted as the yachts’ agent, handling clearances and every service a yacht needed. The Harbour Master gave him the authority to pilot superyachts himself.
The result: The Games fleet was the largest gathering of superyachts Australia had seen. The NSW Waterways Authority estimated the visiting superyachts injected at least $20 million into the economy during the Games.