Regatta's future looks safe for now (30/01/06)
(source : NZ Herald)

Auckland Match Racing Cup organiser Dave Stewart says the regatta will "definitely" be an annual event for the next five years.

The inaugural event finished on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour yesterday. The ISAF grade one regatta is the first major event of its kind since the demise of the Steinlager/Line 7 Cup in 2002.

Attracting a star-studded lineup, including America's Cup sailors Bertrand Pace, Dean Barker, Chris Dickson and Ed Baird, the regatta was supported by the Auckland City Council and had a prize pool of $147,000.

"We want to continue to pay that prizemoney," said Stewart, who is the manager of Springs Promotions. "We have got some fantastic sponsors on board for next year which we will be announcing in the next four weeks."

He said many of the skippers had indicated they were keen to return.

"But we just need to work on a date that suits everyone. We have the America's Cup next year and a lot of teams will be in Valencia quite early in the year. So it can't be too late."

He said there were no plans at this stage to try to get the event on the World Tour, formerly the Swedish Match Tour.

"I think it is really going to be a matter of working out what the benefits for this event are from being part of that world match racing tour. It is expensive to be part of, so the benefits have to be weighed up against the cost of it."

While there were a lot of spectators lining Westhaven Marina for yesterday's final, overall numbers have not been great.

"That is going to be our big push for the next one, to really involve the public in the event."