AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE

18 January 2007

Set sail for maritime festivities over anniversary weekend

Auckland's Viaduct Harbour will be the place to be this Auckland Anniversary weekend, with three fantastic maritime celebrations planned to coincide with Auckland's birthday.

On-the-water-action will start with the Auckland Match Racing Cup, which runs from Wednesday, 24 January to Sunday, 28 January.

The 2006 inaugural match racing event, won by the Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, was the biggest sailing event in New Zealand since the America's Cup, and this year's event sees many of the world's best sailors coming to the Waitemata Harbour to take part. Sailing starts each day at 10am with quick-fire round-robin racing and finishes with the finals on Sunday, 28 January. A presentation of the cup to the winner will take place at 3pm outside Soul Bar restaurant in the Viaduct Harbour with a special flyover by the Royal New Zealand Air Force. With racing taking place adjacent to the Harbour Bridge, spectators can see the action close up by coming down to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron at Westhaven Marina.

The annual Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta will be taking place out in the Waitemata Harbour on Monday, 29 January. A fixture on Auckland's calendar over the past 167 years, the regatta is a much-loved event.

The harbour will come alive with a range of different craft including tiny optimists, centreboarders, classic vessels, keelboats, multihulls and even a tugboat race. The spectacle will be led by the Royal NZ Navy's "Te Kaha", which will also be open to the public at the Viaduct Harbour on Sunday, 28 January, along with the "Soren Larsen".

Watch the regatta from excellent harbour vantage points at Tamaki Drive, Orakei Wharf, Bastion Point, North Head or East Coast Bays.

A public farewell to Emirates Team New Zealand will also be held on Monday, 29 January.

The team's base will be open from 12.30pm to 5.30pm, giving the public a chance to see the team at work and wish them good luck as they prepare to leave for Valencia and the 32nd America's Cup challenge.

Access to the Emirates Team New Zealand base will be via the floating pontoon from the end of Te Wero Island. A one-way walking system will be in place to ensure a smooth flow around the area.

There will also be free family entertainment to enjoy around the Viaduct on Sunday, 28 and Monday, 29 January, with kids rides, food stalls, music, buskers and roving performers.

Auckland City is a major sponsor of all three events happening over anniversary weekend, and supporting events with a maritime theme is a key component in Auckland City's events strategy.

Sponsorship of these events also contributes to further developing Auckland as a vibrant international city with plenty happening for those that live and work here or come to visit.

For more information, please visit www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/whatson

ENDS

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