The Clipper 'Round the World Yacht Race Expected to continue in Geraldton

It took more deliberation than you might think.

And it's not really locked in yet. But Council last night decided to chip in $500,000 over the next four years to keep the Clipper race coming to Geraldton.

Of course, getting the race here costs a lot more than that, so the future of the race coming to Geraldton hinges on securing $1.1million from Eventcorp by way of a grant.

And not all of the $500,000 that the City puts in will be spent on the race itself. A portion of that money will go toward capitalising on the race being here and doing what can be done to showcase Geraldton to the world on the back of the race.

Community support for the race is very high, but there are always those in the community that feel the money could be better spent elsewhere. This was voiced by Councillor Shane Van Styne, but in the end the majority of councillors felt that the economic benefits to the community outweighed the expense and approved moving forward to attempt to secure the grant funding.

Should the grant not be secured, the race might have to find another place to dock when it comes to Western Australia.