Govts commit $17m for WA sailing event

The state and federal governments have committed more than $17 million to secure the largest sailing event in WA in more than 20 years, the ISAF Sailing World Championships.

At this week's Council of Australian Government's meeting, the Barnett government agreed to contribute $8.8 million to secure the championships, which is scheduled for December 2011.

The event would be the state's largest sailing event since the 1987 America's Cup.

The federal government has agreed to commit $8.6 million.

The ISAF championships is expected to generate about $40 million in direct expenditure for the state with more than 5,000 visitors expects.

The event, which is the primary qualifying event for the London 2012 Olympic Games, is tipped to attract 1,420 international athletes who will compete in 10 individual world championships.