New Zealand Sail Grand Prix
The New Zealand Sail Grand Prix officially the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix is a sailing event that is held as part of the SailGP Championship since the 2022-23 season. The event has twice been held in Christchurch, and once in Auckland, with Australia most recently winning the event.
The 2026 edition is due to take place in Auckland on 14–15 February.
History
Christchurch
The New Zealand Sail Grand Prix was first announced at the start of 2021 set to be hosted at Lyttleton Harbour, Christchurch for the 2021-2022 championship, followed later that year by the announcement of an alternating four season hosting arrangement with two events scheduled for Auckland and two for Christchurch, including the one announced previously. The first event however was ultimately delayed as a result of the country's COVID-19 response, until the 2023-2024 season where it held the penultimate place on the schedule taking place on 18–19 March 2023.During the 2024-2025 season the New Zealand SailGP event returned to Christchurch after it could not be hosted in Auckland where the city's Wynyard Point was not available for the event. Early in 2024, the Christchurch event was voted favourite amongst sailors. At the time, the event was the largest ever in SailGP history featuring 22,000 attendees over the weekend and generating NZ$33.7 million for the Cantebury region. Ultimately the decision was made for SailGP not to return to Christchurch after no racing took place on the first day of the event following Hector's Dolphins being spotted in the harbour.