Incentive costs hiked after MIQ sank SailGP racing

Friday, 11 March 2022

Britain’s boat, skippered by Ben Ainslie, races in the December leg of SailGP in Sydney Harbour.

Rescuing the SailGP yacht racing almost lost to Christchurch after the Government refused MIQ spots to teams has cost the city an extra $500,000 a year in incentive fees.

Despite the hiked cost the city’s promotional agency, ChristchurchNZ, says the rescheduled event will be bigger and bring increased benefits.

The high-speed foiling catamaran race was to have been held between eight nations including New Zealand on Lyttelton Harbour in January and broadcast to a global TV audience.

It was cancelled after sailors and support crews were declined places in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ), triggering fears the event was permanently lost.

* Covid-19 sinks SailGP's multimillion-dollar NZ yachting event

The Kiwi team in action during a SailGP event last year.

* Officials did not refer multimillion-dollar yachting event bid to ministers

* Millions in visitor income at risk after Government says no to MIQ for SailGP

SailGP catamarans on the water in Sydney Harbour in December.

The refusal came despite SailGP undertaking to pay for the places, and appeals to Government by city leaders including Mayor Lianne Dalziel.

In a revived deal announced in December, races next season will be held at Lyttelton in 2023 and 2025, and on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf in 2024 and 2026.

They will be a leg of the global regatta, raced annually in venues including Saint-Tropez, Bermuda, Sydney and San Francisco.

ChristchurchNZ, the region’s ratepayer-owned promotional and economic development agency, confirmed the renegotiated deal meant a 50 per cent higher incentive payment. For each of the two upcoming years it will pay SailGP $1 million in cash, while another $500,000 will be spent on “in kind” contributions.

The agency’s general manager of destination and attraction, Loren Heaphy, said the in-kind contribution would be “allocated at the partners’ joint discretion towards event planning and delivery and includes contractors, staff, marketing, leverage & legacy, community engagement and hosting.”

Ngāti Wheke, which has a community and marae (pictured) at Rapaki, will co-host SailGP racing next year.

Heaphy confirmed the original incentive agreed for the cancelled 2022 event, a figure previously kept secret, had been $750,000 in cash and $250,000 in kind.

Christchurch’s upped contribution will match that paid by Auckland, which with an estimated 1.7 million residents has a population four times bigger than Christchurch.

The new deal has also seen the Government commit to contributing $5.4 million from its major events fund over the four years.

Described as a “massive coup” for Christchurch when first secured, SailGP will be one of the city’s biggest events since the earthquakes, showcasing the region to a TV audience of 50 million.

Loren Heaphy of ChristchurchNZ says SailGP on Lyttelton Harbour next year will have more teams competing than the current season.

One event was forecast in 2021 to bring up to $28 million of economic benefits to New Zealand and attract 10,000 spectators around the harbour.

The grand prix event sees mixed-gender crews compete in identical foiling catamarans at speeds up to 100kmh. They race for a US$1m [NZ$1.45m] prize at the end of each season.

The league is run by Kiwi Olympic and world champion yachtie Sir Russell Coutts and American billionaire Larry Ellison, who has underwritten the regatta for a minimum of five years.

Local hapu Ngāti Wheke, based at Rāpaki on Lyttelton Harbour, has been reconfirmed as a co-host for the 2023 Christchurch leg.

Naval Point on Lyttelton Harbour. (File photo)

Ngāti Wheke is developing a cultural festival and waka experiences, and will be part of a sailing development programme for young people, as part of the event.

Heaphy said a $225,000 contractual payment previously made towards the January 2022 event had been “transferred to the partnership investment agreement” for next year.

Remaining contract payments for the cancelled event did not need to be made, she said. ChristchurchNZ incurred costs of $91,766 in preparing for the 2022 event.

“This was made up of staffing, risk management, cultural engagement, and support for traffic management planning.

“Much of this planning is not lost and will be used to support and advance our planning for the delivery of a season three event in 2023.”

She said the 2023 and 2025 seasons are “forecast to provide significantly increased benefits” than if held in 2022.

Heaphy attributed this to “more teams participating, a greater global broadcast audience as the popularity of SailGP has grown, and more visitors due to the lessening of Covid-19 travel restrictions.”

“Hosting SailGP will also have positive legacy impacts for Christchurch and Lyttelton by boosting the reputation of the harbour as a sailing destination, and the city as a place capable of hosting large-scale international events,” she said.

The New Zealand SailGP team, headed by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, has raced the current season alongside teams from Britain, the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Denmark, and Australia.

The final will be held in San Francisco later this month. Canada and Switzerland will join the league from this year.

In the meantime Christchurch City Council has been upgrading Naval Point at Lyttelton, the launch area and fanzone for SailGP. This has involved resealing the car park, upgrading utilities including water mains, and making foreshore improvements.