10 March 2012

Auckland Stopover: Preview for Sunday 11 March

ARRIVAL OF THE FLEET
Groupama is leading the fleet into Auckland and is expected in late tonight - to top off FRANCE day in the Global Party!

Behind Groupama, there is a titanic tussle for second place between CAMPER and Emirates Team New Zealand, PUMA and Telefonica, with all three boats due in Sunday afternoon.

Follow the fleet in realtime on http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE RACE VILLAGE ON SUNDAY

GLOBAL PARTY
Yo! It's USA day at the Global Party. Acts on the PUMA stage include:

11.00am Simon Matafei and the Auckland Gospel Choir
2.00pm Elvis, Sinatra and Cher impersonators pay tribute to the USA
4.00pm James Ray Band plays country music
6.00pm Diana Harris plays blues
7.30pm Open air cinema - lie back on the beanbags and watch a movie on the big screens

KING NEPTUNE'S TRAIL PARADE
The Auckland Stopover Parade with magical marine creatures singing and dancing to the Stopover Song plays twice today. Meet Pablo the Prawn (Spain), Louis the Crab (France), Marmo the Octopus (USA), Amal the Turtle (UAE), Harry the Hapuka (NZ) and the three mermaids (China) plus sea anemones, blue bottles and sea lice. Performances at 12.30pm and 6pm.

SKELETON SEA ART WORKSHOPS
Material gathered from the beach clean-up is being used to create the Auckland Stopover Skeleton Sea art sculpture over the next few days at the Voyager Museum. Workshops 10am - 12 noon and 2pm - 4pm.

VOLVO RACE ACADEMY
Watch the Volvo Race Academy participants race in the Optimist finals from 3pm, Spectator viewing from the Wynyard waterfront area.

FREE PADDLEBOARDING
Try standup paddleboarding with PUMA - free 30 minute lesson with instructor and equipment. 12 - 6pm from the tidal steps on Karanga Plaza. Must be able to swim!

PUMA BOLT RACE CHALLENGE
Puma Bolt Race Track outside the Puma bar – don the latest Puma Faas shoes and see how fast you can sprint.

TRY SAILING
Learn how to sail with the Volvo Race Academy! Open to the public from 10am - 4pm tomorrow - free instruction on the Volvo Try Sailing fleet led by Yachting New Zealand instructors.

The Volvo Experience, including the Ride simulator, the Grinding Challenge and Air Balls on water will open at 9am. There will be movies running all day in the 3D Cinema and the Dome and there's lots for the little ones, including a bouncy castle and miniature pedal trucks and cars. Check out the Volvo Pavilion for an incredible array of interactive screens, games and vehicles or pop into the DHL NZ Marine Export Showcase and look at the very best of NZ marine products and services.

And it's all free!

Visit isitbusy.co.nz to plan your visit to, from and around the Auckland Stopover Race Village.

Ends

NOTES FOR EDITORS
• The 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race started in Alicante (Spain) on 29 October and features nine Legs with Stopovers in Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajai (Brazil), Miami (USA), Lisbon (Portugal) and Lorient (France) with the finish in Galway (Ireland) in July 2012.
• The Auckland Stopover runs from 8 – 18 March 2012
11 March tbc: boats scheduled to arrive for finish of Leg 4 from Sanya (China)
16 March: Pro-Am Race
17 March: In-Port Race
18 March: Start of Leg 5 to Itajai (Brazil)
• The last Auckland Stopover was a decade ago, during the 2001/2002 Race. There was a brief 48 hour pitstop in Wellington in 2005/6.
• The 2012 Stopover will be the eighth time the Race has come to Auckland. This is the eleventh edition of the Race which was first held back in 1973/74.
• Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) owns the rights to stage the Volvo Ocean Race Auckland Stopover (VORAS), and is the primary funder of the event.
• Government support for the event has been confirmed, including a grant from the Major Events Development Fund.
• ATEED has appointed Auckland major events company Mayo& to deliver the Stopover on its behalf.
• For more information on the Volvo Ocean Race Auckland Stopover, please visit www.volvooceanraceauckland.com

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