SAILGP/Supplied
The New Zealand team competing at the SailGP in Spain on October 16, 2023.
SailGP has sunk its event planned for the Hauraki Gulf this summer, but it will go ahead elsewhere in New Zealand.
Chief executive of Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU), Nick Hill, announced on Wednesday that SailGP has made the decision to scrap the sailing event in Auckland in March next year.
The unavailability of Wynyard Point as a spectator facility, part of SailGP’s original vision for the competition, was a barrier, Hill said.
TAU, which is Auckland Council’s events and economic development agency, worked with SailGP to explore all possible options to keep the event in the city, Hill said.
TAU and the council had solutions for SailGP’s on-water course and on-land seating plans, he said.
An Eke Panuku spokesperson said SailGP was offered the use of all the America’s Cup infrastructure at Wynyard Point, including the team bases, wharves and roadway, but contaminated land at the north end of the point was never an option.
Previously used to store petrol, the former tank farm land at Wynyard Point is privately leased with contaminated sites going through a remediation process, and unsafe for public use, a TAU spokesperson said.
The loss to Auckland’s economy is an estimated $5.2million in visitor spend.
The cost to TAU of planning for SailGP since December 2021 had been in time and staff resources, rather than additional financial costs.
Eke Panuku/Stuff
A 2023 view of Auckland’s Wynyard Point, on which Eke Panuku will start early works on the development known as Te Ara Tukutuku in late 2024.
The sailing race had been the last international event in TAU’s cupboard, after funding dried up for the agency to attract large scale, international events.
Meanwhile, a SailGP spokesperson has confirmed the event will go ahead elsewhere in New Zealand.
Thespokesperson said the international company, which New Zealander Russell Coutts helms, is working with its partners, including local and central government agencies.
SailGP was supposed to happen on March 23 and 24, as a pinnacle event of the new Moana Auckland festival. It was one of 13 scheduled for SailGP’s fourth season, which runs from June 2023 to July 2024, and involves 10 national teams racing F50 catamarans.
SAILGP
The New Zealand team fell short of the podium on their return to the SailGP in Spain.
Since June, SailGP events have taken place in Chicago, LA, St Tropez (France), Taranto (Italy), and Cádiz (Spain). The Auckland racing would have followed events in Dubai in December, Abu Dhabi in January and Sydney in February.
SailGP made its New Zealand debut in Christchurch in March. And Auckland and Christchurch had been set to alternate as hosts for four consecutive seasons, according to SailGP’s website.
