The world in our backyard
Christchurch has beaten out other New Zealand cities to host a major international sailing event showcasing the region to a global broadcast audience.
The New Zealand grand prix event will be held on Lyttelton Harbour next January as part of SailGP’s second season. The SailGP league involves teams racing identical hydrofoiling catamarans at speeds of up to 50 knots (100kmh).
Olympic and world champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke will head New Zealand’s first entry in the event. Also competing will be Sir Ben Ainslie, skippering the British boat, and Australian Jimmy Spithill piloting for the United States.
The Christchurch races will be the penultimate leg of the upcoming SailGP season. The league was launched in 2018 and is headed by Olympic champion and America’s Cup winner Sir Russell Coutts.
Loren Heaphy, general manager of destination and attraction at promotional and economic development agency ChristchurchNZ, said it was an ‘‘entirely different event to those we typically attract to Christchurch’’.
It would draw visitors, stimulate the economy, and boost the city’s reputation as a venue for major events, she said.
SailGP sought a New Zealand leg for its upcoming season because of the country’s entry into the event.
In November, ChristchurchNZ confirmed it was negotiating with SailGP, tendering alongside other New Zealand centres hoping to secure the event.
Details of the contract with SailGP were commercially sensitive, Heaphy said.
The city was chosen partly because of Lyttelton Harbour’s favourable wind conditions and spectator possibilities.
Winning the event was ‘‘a massive coup’’ for Christchurch and for sailing in Aotearoa, she said.
‘‘The harbour lends itself to close-up viewing of the racing, offering a rare spectator experience.’’
Heaphy said Nga¯ ti Wheke, the Nga¯i Tahu hapu¯ based at
the harbour-front settlement of Ra¯ paki, would advise on running the event with cultural integrity, and ensure nearby communities engaged with and benefited from it.
Nga¯ti Wheke chair Manaia Rehu said it was honoured to have the event on Whakaraupo¯ (Lyttelton Harbour) and to represent Ma¯ ori culture to a global audience.
‘‘Whakaraupo¯ is a special part of our identity and as kaitiaki, guardians, of this beautiful place, we are pleased to welcome the world to our backyard.’’
The inaugural SailGP event in Sydney in 2019 was watched live by 133,000 people, seen by a television audience of
256 million, and had an estimated
$35 million economic impact on the city. It was won by Australia.
The 2020 season began with races in Sydney Harbour, but was then suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Burling said he was ‘‘stoked’’ to bring the global event to Christchurch.
New Zealand will compete against the US, Australia, France, Great Britain, Japan, Denmark, and Spain.
Coutts said Christchurch was one of New Zealand’s most exciting venues and Lyttelton Harbour had natural beauty. The positioning of the race course would be similar to the SailGP layout in San Francisco, he said.
‘‘We expect this event will draw passionate spectators from across the country and Australia, provided the
Covid-19 situation improves as we hope it will.’’
The contest will begin in Bermuda in April with teams racing for points, and culminating in a grand final in San Francisco in March 2022. Venues for the other legs include St Tropez in France, Caduiz in Spain, Plymouth in Britain, and Taranto in Italy.
Coutts said when the first races began later this year, ‘‘we’ll have the world’s best sailors lining up in equally matched boats for what is shaping up to be some of the sport’s most competitive racing yet’’.
Broadcasters to have secured rights for coverage to the 2021-22 event across 100 territories include CBS in the US, Sky Sports in Britain and Ireland, Fox Sports in Australia, and other broadcasters in Japan, France, Spain and Denmark.