Top 10 summer sport spectator events

NZ Beach Volleyball Open. Photo / Getty Images

Auckland at this time of year is a playground for great sport. From turf to surf and everything in between, it's a great opportunity to get out there and soak up the action, writes Dana Johannsen

1 ASB Classic/ Heineken Open

January 4-9 (women's) January 11-16 (men's), ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland

The sunshine, the strawberries, the action, the glamour - what better way to kick off the 2010 sporting calendar than with two weeks of top-class tennis?

The women's action this week at the ASB Classic has provided a fine start to the sporting year and if you get down to Stanley Street today, you can catch the last semifinal.

The tournament, which this year celebrates 25 years, is New Zealand's richest women's international sports event at US$220,000 ($300,000).

This year's draw features a number of highly rated players. With five players ranked inside the world's top 20 - Italy's Flavia Pennetta (12) and Francesca Schiavone (17), Chinese star Li Na (15), Belgian Yanina Wickmayer (16) and Virginie Razzano (19) of France - this year's tournament has been one of the most competitive yet.

Next week the men take to the court in the Heineken Open. The men's event likewise has a host of top names including Spaniards Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero as well as former world No3 David Nalbandian, of Argentina.

The Heineken Open is an ATP Tour tournament with US$480,000 ($655,000) in prize money, with many players using the event as a lead in to the Australian Open later this month.

2 ISA World Junior Surfing Champs

January 20-28, Piha

The best young surfers in the world will take to the waves at Piha later this month when Auckland plays host to the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.

The week-long event will see the world's best under 18 year surfers battling it out for world titles in the biggest event in the junior surfing year.

The championships is an Olympic-type event, with surfers from around the world competing both individually and for their countries.

It is the first time the event has been staged in New Zealand and it has been 25 years since an ISA event of this magnitude has been held in Australasia, so it is well worth making the trek out to Piha to have a look.

The locals are a bit concerned about how their small settlement will cope with the huge swell of people to the area over the week-long event.

With thousands of visitors expected, traffic chaos is inevitable, and parking will be a nightmare. So if you want to beat the crowds, go on a weekday. And it would pay not to park up on someone's front lawn - the locals don't like that apparently.

3 Black Caps v Australia ODIs

March 6 and March 11, Eden Park

There's nothing like relaxing on the terraces of Eden Park with the sun on your back watching our summer game.

Okay, so the terraces may be gone, and by March, so too will the golden weather, but no Kiwi summer would really be complete without a good old-fashioned New Zealand-Australia cricket battle.

Auckland fans will be served a double doseof transtasman rivalry this year with Eden Park setto host two one-dayers in the Chappell-Hadlee series.

Make sure you get in quickly for tickets though, with the ground undergoing reconstruction ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup the stadium's capacity will be severely reduced.

4 Louis Vuitton World Series

March 7-21, Waitemata Harbour

America's Cup class yachting returns to Auckland in March when the Louis Vuitton world series rolls in to town.

Building on the success of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series held in Auckland last year, organisers have expanded the concept and set up a world tour.

The series will feature an eight-team field, including Emirates Team New Zealand, competing in shared yachts in a round robin, one-on-one match racing format where the two finalists go head-to-head to determine the winner.

This year, rather than being run out of the Team New Zealand base, the regatta will shift to the other side of the Viaduct, nearer the bars and restaurants to allow greater public access.

The regatta will be one of the feature events on the Auckland Festival of Sail calendar.

5 New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing: Celebrating Bruce McLaren

January 22-31, Hampton Downs Motorsport Park and Pukekohe Park Raceway

A new event on the sporting calendar this year, the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing will see New Zealand's biggest gathering of iconic, historic and classic racing cars competing over two consecutive weekends at Hampton Downs and Pukekohe Park Raceway.

Some of the sport's greatest racers will gather to celebrate the life and achievements of racer and race car builder Bruce McLaren.

It is the first New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing and organisers are hoping to make the event an annual fixture.

The festival has captured the imagination of historic racing drivers and enthusiasts all over the world, with many cars being shipped from as far away as Europe to take part in the event.

6 Omega Auckland Match Racing Regatta

March 1-6, Waitemata Harbour

The opening act of the month-long Auckland Festival of Sail, the Omega Auckland Match Racing Regatta, is set to pit some of the greatest names of the sport head to- head.

The full list of entrants has yet to be determined, but organisers are hoping to attract legends of the sport to Auckland for the week-long regatta.

Invitations have been sent to John Bertrand, Dennis Conner, Russell Coutts and Ed Baird, while several other skippers of America's Cup syndicates, who will be in town for the Louis Vuitton series later in the month are also expected to line up in the regatta.

One big showdown is assured though, with Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker set to take on young gun Adam Minoprio, who was last month crowned world match-racing champion. The event will be hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, with the racing to be staged on the Waitemata Harbour.

7 Karaka Million Race Day

January 31, Ellerslie Racecourse

It's Auckland's million-dollar party. New Zealand's richest 2-year-old race, the Karaka Million, is one of the features of the Twilight Summer Series at Ellerslie.

This action-packed and glamorous race day sees the best 2-year-old graduates from New Zealand Bloodstock's 2009 National Yearling Sales fight it out on the track for $1 million.

The six-race Twilight Meeting is played out in a fast-paced format, matched by plenty of spectacle off the track.

8 NZ Beach Volleyball Open

January 22-24, ASB Tennis Centre

The McEntee Hire NZ Beach Volleyball Tour has been a feature of New Zealand's summer sporting calendar for 15 years, entertaining crowds with the action and athleticism of beach volleyball. Oh, and some seem to like the skimpy outfits.

The 2010 tour wraps up with the NZ Open held at Auckland's ASB Tennis Centre. More than 100 cubic metres of sand is shipped into the venue to transform the stadium's centre court into an ideal beach volleyball setting.

The NZ Open will feature New Zealand's top beach volleyball talent as well and some highly rated international teams looking to sharpen their skills in the off-season to the FIVB World & American AVP tours.

Heading the New Zealand hopes in the men's competition is Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead. The pair had an outstanding season on the world tour last year, including a ninth placing at the World Championships, and ended the year ranked 23rd in the world.

Local interest in the women's field will focus on the star pairing of Anna Scarlett and Susan Blundell. At 1.87m and 1.85m respectively, they have been dubbed the "twin towers" of NZ beach volleyball. They are ranked 33rd in the world.

9 Fox Auckland Supercross

January 23, TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre, Manukau

It's not your typical summer event, but the Fox Auckland Supercross will be screamingly good fun nevertheless.

New Zealand's best Motocross riders, including 2004 world champion Ben Townley, will go head to head in the final round of the New Zealand Supercross Champs.

The event will be followed by more high-flying action in the Red-Bull X Fighters Jam Freestyle, where the riders get a chance to show off their flashy tricks. The riders will be jumping over 25m gaps at speeds up to 100km/h. Rad.

10 King of the Harbour Ocean Race

January 22-23

Takapuna Boating Club is bringing the King of the Harbour World Cup Race - a legendary ocean-paddling event - back to the Viaduct Harbour later this month.

The event features a sprint knock-out exhibition between the race's top competitors on January 22 as a preview event to the Harbour Ocean Race the next day.

As wind direction is fundamental to a successful race, one of four courses will be selected to present the competitors with at least 80 per cent downwind paddling.

The final course will be determined by the wind direction 24 hours before the race with the hope that the course will generate optimal conditions with exhilarating waves that can be skilfully surfed at maximum speed.

The course will be around 25-27km long and is expected to take competitors around two hours to complete.