Next year's Auckland Match Racing Cup will attract heightened interest as the final major international yachting event before the 2007 America's Cup, organisers said today.
New Zealand skipper Dean Barker will return to defend the title he won over Frenchman Bertrand Pace in last year's inaugural event.
TheAuckland Match Racing Cup is five days of racing beginning on January 24. Teams race on identical boats, for a US$50,000 ($73,965) cash prize and the Auckland Match Racing Cup.
The teams will sail on the Farr MRX match racing fleet used in January this year and for the former Steinlager Line 7 Cup regattas.
Event organiser Dave Stewart said the timing of the race would mean heightened international interest leading into the America's Cup in Valencia in June next year.
"The eyes of the sailing world will be watching the competition closely to see who the world's top sailors are, ahead of Valencia," he said.
