Kerre Woodham: Could SailGP have worked in Christchurch?

Environmental awareness and the risk of dolphin bothering seems to have been behind SailGP’s decision to withdraw its racing from Lyttelton next year and move the whole kit and caboodle to Auckland.  

You may remember they looked at Auckland but there was inability to provide the kind of spectator stands that Russell Coutts wanted, So off to Lyttelton they went, with the caveat that you have to be mindful it's a dolphin sanctuary, and if the dolphins turn up then racing has to stop. Sure, fine, everybody agreed. Then back in March, the opening day of racing was called off due to a dolphin sighting on the course. And while the second day of racing was able to go ahead without a hitch, and according to some commentators served up one of the best days of racing in the league's history, Russell Coutts said no, that's it. We can't be stopping every two seconds. It's not ideal. It's a beautiful amphitheatre, great racing, but if the Dolphins are going to be stopping racing every two seconds, we can't be coming back.  

Among Sail GP athletes Lyttelton Harbour was voted as the league's best location to sail. It was an anonymous poll amongst the athletes are following their event in Dubai, late in 2023. Great Britain strategist Hannah Mills said there were pros and cons for whether the league should return to the venue in ‘25 after the way things played out. She said it's the most amazing place to sail. It's really beautiful, so many people came to watch, the conditions were incredible. For a sailor, it's perfect, but we have to be more conscious around the places that we go, the effects that we have and the traces that we leave, said Hannah Mills, the British strategist.  

And that's the big thing behind Sail GP. They talk about being champions for change, they talk about raising awareness of conservation ideals through their sport. Better sport, better planet, so you can't be mowing over dolphins while you’re promoting that sort of ethos within your sport. And a lot of the sailors within the sport would feel very much the same way. Sure, let us sail, but we don't want to cause harm while we do it.  

So, Auckland it is. And that must mean the issues around the Wynyard quarter have been resolved because when Auckland events manager Nick Mills announced last year that Sail GP wouldn't be coming to Auckland, he said that they'd worked really hard with Russell Coops and the Sail GP team to find a way to hold the event the way Russell wants to hold it. That is, in the middle of the harbour, with a stand on either side of the harbour and he said it's just not possible to do it this year because the land that Coutts wanted to use for the stand was where the old tank farm used to be. And although the tanks have been removed there's been contamination and it hasn't been cleared to be used for any other purpose. So presumably, the situation is that Russell Coutts and Sail GP have said no, Lyttelton Harbour’s too hard. Too many dolphins. Too much stress on the environmentally aware sailors and the environmentally aware landlubbers, terrified that Dolphins will be hit, so we'll move it up to Auckland, where presumably there are also dolphins, but not as many. It's not a sanctuary. And the land will have been remediated so that Russell Coutts can have the course exactly as he wishes. And let's face it, he who pays, says.  

If Russell Coutts wants to bring a whole lot of money, a whole lot of television coverage, a whole lot of good juju to a town or a city, he can say this is the way I want it. And if you don't like it, he'll go somewhere else.  

So, I'd love to get your thoughts on this - could it have worked at Lyttelton? Was there good will? Or was the fact that the course was in the middle of a dolphin sanctuary, just silly and unworkable? I mean, it looked like a beautiful natural amphitheatre and certainly was well supported by the locals. It's a great race. It's a great initiative. It's a great idea. Good people are involved, good people are supporting it. If not Auckland where?   

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Carrywood and Morning's podcast from news Talks, he'd.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Be Environmental awareness and the risk of dolphin bothering seems
to have been behind sale GP's decision to withdraw its
racing from Lyttleton next year and move the whole kit
and kaboodle to Aukland. You may remember they looked at Auckland,
but there was anability to provide the kind of spectator

(00:34):
stands that Russell Kotz wanted, so off to Littleton. They
went with the caveat that you have to be mindful
it's a dolphin sanctuary and if the dolphins turn up
then racing has to stop. Sure, fine, everybody agreed. Then
back in March, the opening day of racing was called
off due to a dolphin sighting on the course, and

(00:56):
while the second day of racing was able to go
ahead without a hitch and according to some commentators, served
up one of the best days of racing in the
league's history, Russell Kurtz said, no, that's it. We can't
be stopping every two seconds. It's not ideal. It's a
beautiful amphitheater, great racing, but if the dolphins are going

(01:20):
to be stopping racing every two seconds. We can't be
coming back. Among sale GP athletes, Littleton Harbor was voted
as the league's best location to sail. It was an
anonymous poll amongst the athletes following their event in due
By late in twenty twenty three, Great Britain strategist Hannah

(01:41):
Mills said there were pros and cons for whether the
league should return to the venue in twenty five after
the way things played out. She said, it's the most
amazing place to sail. It's really beautiful, so many people
came to watch. The conditions were incredible for a sailor,
it's perfect. But we have to be more conscious around
the places that we go and the effects that we

(02:03):
have and the traces that we leave, said Haddie Mills,
the British strategist. And that's the big thing behind sal GP.
You know, they talk about being champions for change. They
talk about raising awareness of conservation ideals through their sport.
Better sport, better planet. So you can't be mowing over

(02:25):
dolphins while you're promoting that sort of ethos within your sport.
And a lot of the sailors within the sport would
feel very much the same way. Sure, you know, let
us sail, but we don't want to cause harm while
we do it. So Auckland it is. And that must

(02:50):
mean the issues around the wind Yard quarter have been resolved,
because when Auckland Events manager Nick Mills announced last year
that sale GP wouldn't be coming to Auckland, he said
that they'd worked really hard with Russell Kotz and the
sal gem to find a way to hold the event
the way Russell wants to hold it, that is in

(03:11):
the middle of the harbor with a stand on either
side of the harbor, and he said it's just not
possible to do it this year because the land that
Kurts wanted to use for the stand was where the
old tank farm used to be, and although the tanks
have been removed, there's been contamination and it hasn't been
cleared to be used for any other purpose. So presumably

(03:34):
the situation is that Russell Kurtz and sale GP have
said no, Littleton Harbor is too hard, too many dolphins,
too much stress on the environmentally aware sailors, and the
environmentally aware land lubbers terrified that dolphins will be hit.
So we'll move it up to Auckland, where presumably there

(03:57):
are also dolphins, but not as many. It's not a sanctuary,
and the land will have been remediated so that Russell
Kurtz can have the course exactly as he wishes. And
let's face it, he who pays says, if Russell Goots
wants to bring a whole lot of money, a whole

(04:17):
lot of television coverage, a whole lot of good juju
to a town or a city, he can say this
is the way I want it, and if you don't
like it, He'll go somewhere else. So I'd love to
get your thoughts on this. Could it have worked at Littleton?

(04:38):
Was there goodwill? Or was the fact that the course
was in the middle of a dolphin sanctuary just silly
and unworkable? I mean it looked like a beautiful natural
amphitheater and certainly was well supported by the locals. It's
a great race, it's a great initiative, it's a great idea.

(05:03):
Good people are involved, good people pople are supporting it.
If not Auckland Where.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
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