Auckland back in the race

Auckland City Council
Media release

31 March 2010

Auckland back in the race

One of the world’s highest profile international yachting races is returning to Auckland.

The city will be a stopover port for the Volvo Ocean Race in March 2012.

Formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race, The Volvo Ocean Race takes place every three years.

The 2011–2012 race starts in Alicante, Spain in October next year, and is punctuated by a series of stopovers at well-known ports.

Auckland will stage the leg four finish from Sanya in China and the start of leg five, which will take the fleet around Cape Horn to a finish in Itajai, Brazil.

Auckland Mayor John Banks is delighted Auckland will be a stopover port for this major international event, after last having the opportunity during the 2001–2002 race.

“The timing of this announcement couldn’t be better, as Auckland has been in the sailing spotlight over the past month with the hugely successful Auckland Festival of Sailing.”

“The Volvo Ocean Race is a great fit with Auckland’s maritime location and of significant economic benefit,” says Mr Banks. “Not only can the Auckland public look forward to three weeks of free festivities, but our city will also reap a large number of benefits.”

Expected benefits include increased job opportunities in the marine and hospitality sectors, a boom in tourism, an estimated TV audience of 1.8 billion people in 200 countries, and the chance to showcase our energy, vibrancy and waterfront to the world.

Auckland City Council is working in partnership with central government to bring this event back to the city. Both parties are contributing equally with an investment of $1.5million each.

Auckland has a proud history associated with the Volvo Ocean Race. It is during past events that Sir Peter Blake and Grant Dalton both become household names in New Zealand, with wins in Steinlager 2 and New Zealand Endeavour.

History shows that when Auckland hosts a stopover, the crowds come out to play in the hundreds of thousands.

The council plans to make the two-week stopover in 2012 a world-class festival of events and entertainment built around a race village which will be buzzing with activity.

The Volvo Ocean Race is the latest event Auckland City Council has secured for the city.

Over the past 18 months, the council has taken a proactive role to attracting one-off major events to Auckland.

Auckland has hosted the recent Auckland Festival of Sailing, which included the Louis Vuitton Trophy Series, as well as the ISA World Junior Surfing championship, the FIBA U19 Men’s World Basketball Championship and the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup

Other upcoming events include the FIA World Rally Championship in May 2010 and Rugby World Cup in 2011.

Ends

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