Sir Russell Coutts spoke to Newstalk ZB about the Auckland Sail GP and his future plans for the event.
Video / NZ Herald
Auckland could become a fixture of the SailGP calendar for years to come, with Sir Russell Coutts confirming the global foiling league is in conversations regarding a long-term hosting deal in the City of Sails.
This year’s event in Auckland is the third of a four-yearhosting commitment in New Zealand, with Christchurch hosting the first two editions on Lyttelton Harbour.
The event has followed suit in terms of quality of racing and crowd support, with the Waitematā Harbour racecourse providing plenty of action and entertainment, while the waterfront stadium on Wynyard Point has been packed with fans.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine, Coutts said he was pleased with the support of the event among the SailGP stadium and in surrounding areas.
“There’s a great crowd there, great vibe in the viaduct; I think local businesses were doing well out of it, which is what we want to see,” Coutts said.
“We’ve already started the talk about coming back here long-term, which I think is the real benefit for a venue.
“If we can put together a five-year – for example – term, and you come back every year; it’s all very well to have a great one-off event, but if you can come back year after year and build the brand equity and build the awareness, then you will get more people travelling from Australia and so forth, and even the US, coming down here for the event and then holidaying in New Zealand. Which is, of course, what it’s all about.
“We’re certainly keen to do that. We wanted to try Auckland to see if it worked. It clearly has, so we’re talking about a long-term arrangement.”
A long-term deal could see Auckland become a cornerstone of the SailGP calendar should the league’s schedule follow a similar timeline in the future, with season five running from December 2024 to December 2025.
Sir Russell Coutts speaks to Newstalk ZB's Jason Pine during the Auckland SailGP event. Photo / Jason Ludlow, SailGP
The Auckland stop is the second event of the current season, with around 25,000 fans expected to attend across the weekend, and conditions have been so good the league has been able to shoehorn an extra race into both days, with four fleet races on Saturday and three fleet races scheduled before the podium race on Sunday.
The league has also used the Waitematā Harbour and Hauraki Gulf as a testing ground for new developments this week. It’s the first time the fleet has rolled out its high-speed T-foils, allowing for potentially faster racing, while a split-fleet format was also trialled during practice sessions in Auckland with a look to implementing that for proper racing in the future.
That comes as the league looks to expand further in season six, with Coutts confirming SailGP was looking to add another two teams for the next campaign – among a number of other developments in the works.
“We will go to a split fleet format then, so we’ll go to seven-and-seven and then probably two more teams the following year, so eight-and-eight,” he said.
“We’ll add more venues, we want to continue to grow our audience. We’re up around 20 million-plus dedicated viewership per event now, distributing to 212 countries and territories worldwide, so that’s fantastic. The future looks really, really bright.
“Of course, we want to keep developing the technology. We’ve got the light-air foils coming on stream. We’ve got a really cool propulsion system developed in conjunction with HamiltonJet here in New Zealand that will, a little bit like the driver assistance in Formula 1, in super-light wind conditions ... help get the boats up on to the foils.
“Obviously there will be rules around that. It’s a very controversial move in terms of the sailing world, just like allowing the coaches to communicate during racing – that’s not allowed in any other form of the sport.
“We’re not afraid of a bit of controversy. So I think that’s going to really move the sport forward.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
