Auckland is Last to Join Volvo Ocean Race Host Ports

The last port to be revealed for the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race was announced today. Auckland, New Zealand is back on the event’s map for the eighth time. The City of Sails will stage the leg four finish from Sanya in China and the start of leg five, which will take the fleet up to a finish in Itajai, Brazil.

Auckland last hosted the event in 2001-02, and 189 sailors from New Zealand have taken part in the event so far. Mark Christensen, Brad Jackson and Stu Bannatyne are the only sailors to have won the race three times.

"It is with the greatest pleasure I can confirm Auckland, New Zealand has won its bid to become a stopover port in the next Volvo Ocean Race. The local people have an immense appreciation of sailing, and the Volvo Ocean Race in particular," Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad, said in a release. "Many of the world's best-known sailors are from New Zealand, and we are proud to bring the race back to the City of Sails, where we will be sure of a huge reception."
 
"This announcement completes the route and our goal of contracting all the ports before the end of March 2010, significantly earlier than in previous race cycles. The preliminary course will be published during April," Frostad added.

The Volvo Ocean Race route for 2011-2012 is now set and includes: start port Alicante/Spain, Cape Town/South Africa, Abu Dhabi/UAE, Sanya/China, Auckland/New Zealand, Itajai/Brazil, Miami/USA, Lisbon/Portugal, Lorient/France and finish port Galway/Ireland.