The Official
Website of the
International
Sailing Federation

Event manager Paul MARTIN, said the event will be hosted in conjunction with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) as host yacht club, and the City of Auckland . According to MARTIN, 'the idea is to re-create some of the atmosphere that the people of New Zealand enjoyed, whilst hosting the America's Cup.'

The event, which will fall mid-way through a current northern hemisphere gap in the professional yachting calendar, is expected to draw an impressive field of participants, and a tremendous following domestically. Prize money has been set at international levels, and the event will be dove-tailed in it's first year with the much larger Auckland Harbour Festival, providing additional celebratory and entertainment opportunities around the match racing event.

David CHARLESWORTH, Commodor of the RNZYS is looking forward to the event with great anticipation, 'we are excited about the prospect of playing host to this event - and it becoming a feature event on the international yachting circuit.'

The RNZYS is certainly no stranger to match racing. Already this year it has hosted the ISAF Grade 3 RNZYS Youth International Match Racing Championship, the ISAF Grade 5 MRX Winter Match Race Championship series, the ISAF Grade 3 New Zealand Women's Match Racing Championship and is set to host the ISAF Grade 3 New Zealand Match Racing Championship in November.