SailGP is making its NZ debut next week - here’s what to expect:
HIGH SPEED, HIGH TECH, HIGH IMPACT. POWERED BY NATURE.
Intense races, iconic global venues, elite teams and athletes, record-breaking speeds. SailGP is the most exciting racing on water.
This time next week, thousands of fans will get a glimpse into one of the world's fastest-growing sports and entertainment properties. From thrills and spills to a vibrant party atmosphere, the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix is shaping up to be the event of the Kiwi summer.
The New Zealand SailGP Team are heading into their long-awaited home debut, second on the Season 3 Leaderboard, with France hot on their tail. With the top four teams neck and neck, it will be all to play for as the fleet push their limits on Whakaraupō, Lyttelton Harbour before the Season 3 grand finale in San Francisco.
ONE DESIGN FLEET
SailGP boasts the most competitive fleet in sailing, with any team capable of winning any event - in Season 3, all nine national teams have won races. Racing identical F50 catamarans ensures only one thing will decide the SailGP champion - talent. The boats are powered by gigantic, vertical wing sails that can be configured in three different heights, with the common setting the 24-meter wingsail.
The biggest wing size helps produce extra power in light airs, while a smaller configuration allows for flat- out racing in stronger winds, ensuring racing can take place across a much wider spectrum of wind conditions. In lighter winds, weight also becomes a telling factor and, in these conditions, the teams race with two fewer athletes on board in an attempt to gain an advantage, creating a true test of the athletes’ skills.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
For two days, Whakaraupō, Lyttelton Harbour will be transformed into a harbourside village at Naval Point. With fast-paced, high-octane, fleet racing taking place as close to the shore as possible, this unique style of racing will engage an entirely new breed of sailing enthusiasts. Fans will be in for a treat with plenty of boat-on-boat and adrenaline-fuelled action, crashes and near misses.
From witnessing heart-pumping action to experiencing world class hospitality, ticket-holders will be fully immersed in the atmosphere of SailGP. Guests will experience inspired menus prepared by some of New Zealand’s best chefs in collaboration with Venues Ōtautahi’s award-winning executive chef, Dan Shanks. That includes Matt Lambert of The Lodge Bar Group, who will design the menu for hundreds of guests in 14 sold-out Shoreline Villas along the water’s edge. An internationally-acclaimed chef in New Zealand and the United States, Matt Lambert held a Michelin Star from 2013-2019 for his New York restaurant, the Musket Room.
NO TICKETS? HERE’S HOW TO WITNESS THE ACTION
If you missed out on tickets, and want to get in on the action, ChristchurchNZ and Enable have it covered with The ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix Live Site, a family-friendly space with a range of activities located at The Green between Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre and Cathedral Square.
And there will be more ways to watch with SailGP announcing an extended partnership with Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery which will see the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix broadcast live on Sky Sport NZ and free-to-air on Three and ThreeNow.