Wellington, Mar 22 (FN Agency) New Zealand’s largest city on South Island, Christchurch, is gearing up to host the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix (SailGP), the highly anticipated international sailing competition. The event will take place this weekend, returning for the second year in a row, with an estimated 22,000 people expected to watch from the city’s Lyttleton Harbor. The New Zealand Sail GP is a world-class event that allows spectators to get up close and personal “with some of the best sailing action right here in our own backyard,” Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee said on Friday. Athletes voted Christchurch the best venue on last year’s global series, according to Lee. She also said the event helps boost tourism nationally and regionally, providing significant global exposure for New Zealand, with around 10 million people watching the live broadcast.
It also provides opportunities for young people to engage in ancillary sailing activities and promotes women’s elite participation in the sport. Having such a high-profile event take place in New Zealand’s South Island helps to spread the benefits of major events across the country, Lee said. The New Zealand Sail-GP Team, the Black Foils, will also compete for a spot on the podium at home this weekend. Last year’s Sail-GP event attracted a crowd of 12,000 people and generated 8.5 million NZ dollars (5.1 million U.S. dollars) in value for the local and national economies, according to an economic impact report commissioned by Sail-GP. However, the high-speed sailing event makes conservationists concerned about its impact on the endangered Hector’s dolphin in and around the harbor, as around 180 boats will be in the water of SailGP racing this weekend.