Thousands watch on as boats made of beer cans race on Darwin beach

Thousands gather for iconic Beer Can Regatta at Darwin's Mindil Beach Sun 28 Jun 2026 at 5:00pm Homemade boats made mostly out of beer cans have battled it out in one of Darwin's most iconic events at Mindil Beach. The annual Beer Can Regatta draws competitors together to race rafts engineered from drinking containers — the popular choice this year being beer or soft-drink cans. The 52nd edition of the event was full of entertainment on and off the water, including tug of war, iron man, and thong throwing. Despite only three boats entering this year, the crowds at Mindil Beach were huge, numbering in the thousands. The event was also a fundraiser, with proceeds this year donated to St John NT and Mindil Beach Surf Lifesaving Club. Competitor Corporal Rob Meharg, who is on a six-month rotation in Darwin, said he had wanted to enter the competition for 20 years. "This is absolutely bucket list sort of stuff," he said. 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. "Our guys got together pretty much over the course of the weekend, and smashed it," he said. "I reckon you could get to Indonesia on it; there's enough flotation in this to lift the Titanic." He said he wasn't worried about crocodiles in Darwin's sometimes dangerous waters. "Strategy for that was to row faster, like row really fast," he said. Corporal Mehard's team, made up of various military personnel, won the boat race early Sunday afternoon. Fellow competitor Ted Haniford said his son designed their ship last year. "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. "It is big, but we've got some good manpower." Coralie Brannelly has been helping organise the event for more than 10 years, and has seen many boat designs in her time. "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. "That's what it comes down to, just thinking outside the box."