Volvo Race Fleet In Town - News From The Race Villag

SUNDAY 1 MARCH 2015

Volvo Race Fleet In Town - News From The Race Village

With the fleet of six Volvo Ocean 65 safely in port, the shore teams are now hard at work and the crowds are enjoying the spectacular sight of the boats being hauled out by crane today and tomorrow for repair and maintenance by The Boatyard team. It is expected that the boats will be out of the water for a week, returning to the water by Monday 9 March.

The Boatyard will be at its busiest from now until Thursday 5 March with the team working on sail repairs and other major maintenance projects. Nick Bice, The Boatyard Manager, is available for interview.

Activities and events continue in the Race Village and on the water.

The programme for Monday 2 March includes:

The One Ton Revisited Regatta continues with racing over the 20 nm Olympic Course McKenzie Buoy Area from11:00 am.

The entertainment schedule includes:
DJ Christiaan Ercolano from 17:00 - 19:00
Duo Eddie Gaiger and Jason Mohi from 19:00 - 20:00

The activities in the Race Village include the Another Day at the Office movies, the VO65 Cross Section, kids activities, Volvo Pavilion, SCA Pavilion, and all other activities will be open daily from 09:00.

The Schools programme begins with 11 schools from the North Island participating in a programme focussing on Team Work. More than 560 year 1-8 students will visit the Race Village as part of the five day programme. All students will have the chance to learn to sail with the Yachting New Zealand Volvo Sailing ... Have a Go! programme. The New Zealand Maritime Museum is providing an opportunity for students to visit the museum and build a boat in a team environment. The programme is a collaboration with the New Zealand Maritime Museum and Volvo Ocean Race.

The full programme of entertainment and action on and off the water is available to view on the Auckland Stopover website here

Website: www.volvooceanraceauckland.com

NOTES FOR EDITORS
• The Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 started with the first In-Port Race in Alicante (Spain) on 4 October and features nine Legs with Stopovers in Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajai (Brazil), Newport (USA), Lisbon (Portugal) and Lorient (France) with a 24 hour pitstop in The Hague (Netherlands) before the finish in Gothenburg (Sweden) in June 2015.
• The Auckland Stopover runs from 27 February– 15 March 2015.
• 27 February 2015 (tbc): boats scheduled to arrive for finish of Leg 4 from Sanya (China)
o 12 March: Practice Race and Heineken Pro-Am Race 1
o 13 March: Heineken Pro-Am Races 2 and 3
o 14 March: The New Zealand Herald In-Port Race
o 15 March: Start of Leg 5 to Itajai (Brazil)
• The last Auckland Stopover was during the 2011-12 Race. There was a brief 48 hour pitstop in Wellington in 2005-06.
• The 2015 Stopover will be the ninth time the Race has come to Auckland. This is the twelfth 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 visitwww.volvooceanraceauckland.com

© Scoop Media