Auckland responds to SailGP ommission despite holding four-event hosting agreement
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 16 Apr 23:06 UTC
NZ SailGP tacks into the massive grandstand which became an icon of the ITM New Zealand SailGP - Auckland - January 18, 2025 © Felix Diemer/SailGP
Nick Hill, Tataki Auckland Unlimited Chief Executive, has responded to the ommission of Auckland from the 2026 preliminary event list circulated by the SailGP League
"Tataki Auckland Unlimited, on behalf of Auckland Council, is in advanced discussions with SailGP. While we are unable to share specific details at this stage, we are excited at the potential to transform the City of Sails into the City of SailGP in 2026. We will provide further information as soon as we are in a position to do so," Hill said in a statement to Sail-World.
The ommission of Auckland was the most surprising aspect of the preliminary list released by SailGP League, given that only three events of a four-venue hosting agreement have been sailed.
The 10-event list released by SailGP showed a new venue in West Australia being put in the January time slot occuppied by Auckland in 2025, Sydney holds February. There is no event scheduled for March, with the circuit heading to Rio de Janeiro in April.
No specific SailGP dates are mentioned, however from mid-February to mid-March a series of events are scheduled in the Jellicoe Harbour facility as part of the Moana Auckland Festival. These include the Auckland Boat Show which is is New Zealand’s largest on-water boat show, featuring a wide array of luxury yachts, sailing vessels, marine technology, and on-water demonstrations, is scheduled for March 5-8 inclusive. Setup for the show starts in mid-February and packs out by mid-March.
The Boat Show is spread across the harbour in a temporary marina created in Jellicoe Harbour. Emirates Team New Zaland are also expected to be launching in the same area as well.
A $5.4million Hosting four-event contract was negotiated between the NZ Govt's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, with two regattas being held in Lyttleton, Christchurch, in 2023 and 2024, followed by the Season 5 event in January of this year in Auckland. The fourth event was expected to have been held in Auckland in the first quarter of 2026 but has been omitted, while other venues in the Trans-Tasman circuit have been slotted into the Preliminary Schedule.
The Auckland event generated ticket sales of 25,000 across the three days of practice and racing, with 11 teams racing on a stadium course in the inner Waitemata in front of an 8,000-seat grandstand.
SailGP is expected to grow to 16 events in Season 6, with the expectation that the Hosting agreement will be honoured and the fourth regatta added.
Long term hosting
The 2026 event in Auckland would be the fourth iteration of SailGP in New Zealand as part of a four-year partnership with New Zealand Major Events.
"TAU [Tataki Auckland Unlimited] is keen for SailGP to become an annual event on the Auckland calendar, but this is subject to funding. Right now, we don't have a long-term sustainable funding solution in place and are limited to working within a 12-month funding cycle, restricting our ability to commit to events beyond that period," Hill said.
On April 1, Emirates Team New Zealand announced that the 2027 America's Cup would not be hosted in Auckland, with the NZ Government being unwilling to accommodate its $40-$50million share of the Hosting Fee, despite private backers and Auckland Council via Auckland Unlimited agreeing to their $25million share and private investors picking up the remainder.
For more than a year Auckland Council has been advocating for the introduction of a Bed Tax charged to visitors staying in Auckland, to be used for attracting Major Events to Auckland and paying the required Hosting Fees.
To date, the Wellington-based NZ Government has shown little enthusiasm for the measure or put forward an alternative to Wellington-centric funding.