Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Auckland to host elite Volvo Ocean Race again

Updated at 11:16 am on 29 January 2013

Auckland will again host a stopover for the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2015 and 2018, after a successful stopover in last year's event.

The race, which will be in uniform 65-foot monohull yachts, will visit Auckland for 15 days each time.

It's hoped there'll be a local entry again after Team New Zealand's boat Camper finished second in the 11th edition of the race last year, behind French entry Groupama.

Auckland Council's agency ATEED, or Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, led the bid to host both the 2015 and 2018 stopovers.

It's the first time two stopovers have been awarded to any city.

ATEED says it will invest $5.5 million from its Major Events Fund into hosting the two races, and an independent consultancy expects hosting the events to inject $7.49 million into the Auckland region's GDP.

Copyright © 2013, Radio New Zealand