Yachting: Auckland gets race stopover

By Suzanne McFadden

Two months ago, the decision was made - the round-the-world yacht race would not be coming back to Auckland.

Helge Alten, head of the Volvo Ocean Race, had made up his mind - Auckland did not rate as a stopover for the 2001-02 race.

Yesterday Alten signed a deal with Auckland mayor Christine Fletcher for the City of Sails to rejoin the race route.

So why the change of heart?

"In February I said we weren't coming to Auckland. We had decided on two other ports in this part of the world," Norwegian-born Alten said.

"Volvo stands for safety and quality. We didn't want to take Auckland on as a stopover if it was to be the way it was last time. We had heard it wasn't as good as the time before.

"This time, when the city didn't do anything - they did not even make a proposal - I said that's it.

"It was a question of having a financial budget in place, a proper organising body, the support of the local government. Auckland had none of those."

When Alten told the head of Volvo in New Zealand, John Snaith, that Auckland wasn't in his plans, Snaith went to work.

The Auckland City Council was spurred into action to underwrite the stopover to the tune of $1.5 million. Most of that will be covered by sponsorship.

The race organisers weighed up the bid again. A stopover had to do four things: have the right facilities (in this case the America's Cup village), have passionate people, generate media interest and be commercially viable for the sponsor.

Auckland scored three out of four - they failed on No 4. But that was enough to convince Alten to bring the race (formerly the Whitbread) back to the port that has unrivalled public support.

"It was very difficult not to come here. Forty per cent of the sailors are New Zealanders," Alten said.

"But Auckland will have to prove themselves this time. All the ports will."

Four of the 10 ports of call have been finalised. The race will start in September 2001 from Southampton and probably head to Cape Town. The fleet will visit a port in Australia, most likely Sydney, before coming to Auckland.

They will sail around Cape Horn to the possible stop of Rio de Janeiro, and definitely make calls into Miami and Baltimore.

Alten is looking to take the race back to France, then the Swedish port of Gothenburg - the home of Volvo - and probably end in Kiel, Germany, a finish dictated by Volvo's marketing.

So far 11 syndicates have officially registered their interest. Among them is New Zealand sailing entrepreneur John Dibley.

Businesswoman Lorrell Chapman is putting together an all-women crew in Wellington, while Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts has talked about a campaign.