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Around Alone gets NZ stopover

Tauranga
Tauranga is New Zealand's busiest commercial port  


LONDON, England -- Around Alone race organisers have announced the new stopover city of the single-handed round-the-world race will be New Zealand's port of Tauranga.

Located in the Bay of Plenty on New Zealand's East coast, some 250 kilometres south of Auckland, Tauranga is the busiest commercial port in New Zealand.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Race Chairman said: "The reason for this choice is that we were very impressed by the enormous enthusiasm, commitment and excitement from the local community, business and government shown in Tauranga's bid."

Originally it was expected the race would stop in Auckland - the self-styled 'City of Sails' and the centre of recreational sailing in New Zealand - but race organisers found all the suitable dock space and local government resources were committed to the America's Cup.

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The alternatives were to move the stopover back to Sydney or Melbourne, both in Australia or find an alternative location in New Zealand.

The stopover will coincide with the major holiday season, as first arrivals are estimated from December 28, 2002. The restart is scheduled for January 26, 2003.

The dates also coincide with the Louis Vuitton Challenger finals for the America's Cup in Auckland.

The first Around Alone race in 1982-83 with title sponsor BOC took the fleet from Newport, Rhode Island, USA to Cape Town, South Africa, to Sydney, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and back to Newport -- all major distribution centres for the global gas corporation.

When BOC ended its sponsorship for the fifth event in 1998-99, organisers moved the antipodean stopover port from Sydney to Auckland, which is less of a deviation from the direct route around the world.

Typically race organisers look for stopover ports that are logically placed for the safe progress of the race as well as offering marine facilities for the maintenance of the boats and good press and sponsorship opportunities.

Most major cities are keen to entertain international sailing events, which bring media overage and public interest promoting tourism.

Clipper Ventures took over the Around Alone last year for a nominal fee, but the costs of staging a race like this are high and time is now running out to find an overall sponsor so contributions from stopover ports are essential.

The Around Alone 2002-03 will leave Newport on September 15, 2002. The race takes the fleet from Newport to Torbay, England, Cape Town, Tauranga and Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, before returning to Newport in April 2003.

The official entry list stands at 19 skippers from 11 different countries, with 8 in Class I (Open 60 monohulls), 10 in Class II (Open 50 and Open 40 monohulls), and 1 in the Venturer Class.



 
 
 
 







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