The Antarctica Cup International Yacht Race comes to Auckland

by Bob Williams on 27 Jun 2003 The final race format for the Antarctica Cup International Yacht Race 2005 was announced in
Auckland, New Zealand today.

The Antarctica Cup race will pit national teams against each other in identical maxi yachts. They will race through the stormy reaches of the Southern Ocean for a prize of 4.7 million euros, the richest purse in international yacht racing history.

The race will take place in February 2005, starting and finishing in Auckland. The course will take the race yachts around the world’s most feared and respected sailing landmarks Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin - testing the courage, endurance and seamanship of national teams representing the world’s maritime nations.

The yachts will be designed, built and equipped in New Zealand, utilising the skills of the
internationally-renowned marine industry.

Industry New Zealand has already provided support for the project, which has enabled preliminary design work to proceed.

The result is an exciting yacht, which will have to withstand the rigorous conditions the
contestants will encounter as they race around the Great White Continent.

It is envisaged that some seven boatyards will be engaged in this effort. In addition, the sails,
masts and equipment will be manufactured and supplied by New Zealand companies.

‘The New Zealand marine industry has exceeded our expectations,’ said Race Chairman Bob illiams. ‘The boat is an ingenious solution to providing a fleet of identical 25 metre thoroughbred racers that can be converted, after racing duties, to a luxury racer/cruiser. This fits well with our mission to create an international yacht race based on sound business principles that delivers a substantial return on investment to individual boat sponsors.

‘From our research this is the only marine industry in the world that provides in one place so much collective energy for solving our particular design requirements that can also collaborate effectively to meet our high quality specification and tight delivery targets at a highly competitive price.’

Features of the race include:

Strict nationality rules will apply and sailors will have to be passport holders of the countries
they represent. It will be a contest of nation vs nation. A minimum of six and a maximum of 10
entries will compete.

The yachts will be absolutely identical to the last detail. This not only ensures a fair contest,
but also fixes the costs of competing. Over and above entry fees, the teams will only have
salaries, shore accommodation, provisions and usual basics to pay. They will retain ownership of
the boat which will be eligible for the 2007 & 2009 races.

The yachts race non-stop, but pass through 12 gates, some geographic and some ‘virtual’.
The teams accumulate points and prize money in a ‘skins’-type format, where the fastest elapsed
time between each gate is worth 100,000 euros. In addition, the yacht that has accumulated most
points wins 1-million euros and the yacht that takes line honours wins 2.5 million Euros.

www.antarcticacup.com/x_indexb.htm