Ports of Auckland will facilitate the use of inner-harbour sailing courses for all America's Cup racing this summer. Last month, Italian syndicate Luna Rossa won an appeal that effectively eliminated two of the five proposed tracks off Devonport and Takapuna, known as racecourses B and C. When the Auckland harbourmaster restricted challengers' access to the two courses, an America's Cup arbitration panel ruled they could not be used for the subsequent America's Cup defence, because only Team New Zealand would have more opportunity to train on them. |
Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson says Aucklanders should be able to experience the Cup in its true form.
"We wanted the public to be able to enjoy the America’s Cup races as much as possible, so we looked again at the impact of racing on the port’s operations," he says. "The situation has changed considerably since January.
"Cruise ships are no longer able to visit Auckland, we now believe we can successfully manage freight operations, even with closures to the shipping channel for racing. We will work with shipping lines to ensure there is minimal impact on their operations and to keep Auckland’s freight flowing," he says.
"We are very pleased to be able to support the event in this way."
Team NZ boss Grant Dalton is grateful Ports of Auckland understands what's at stake for the people of New Zealand, the worldwide TV audience and the spectators being able to watch the racing from land.
"Tony and his team have stepped up to help Team New Zealand and America’s Cup Event Ltd deliver on the promise we made years ago - to make this America’s Cup the most accessible and inclusive event ever."
Last week, ETNZ filed a request for mediation with the America’s Cup arbitration panel, which has now been rejected, after at least one challenger did not consent to mediation.
In parallel to this request, ETNZ and ACE talked to Ports of Auckland about a secondary solution, due to the critical importance of racing on the inner harbour courses.
In solving this problem, Ports of Auckland have agreed to accommodate a further 10 official race days and six reserve days during the Prada Cup round-robin and semi-final, ensuring all courses are available to all teams.
Ports of Auckland says the shipping channel must close between 1-7pm on days when courses B and C are used for racing, allowing race and spectator boats time to get to the courses, for racing to be completed and to clear the course, so ships can come in and out safely.
The decision on which racecourse is used each day is the responsibility of the regatta director.
