Dutch shipyard Royal Huisman has announced that it has joined the list of sponsors at the platinum level for the New Zealand Millennium Cup, the world’s southernmost regatta.
Royal Huisman at the NZ Millennium Cup. Photo credit Jeff Brown
Orams Marine is the only other platinum sponsor for the regattas, which will take place during 2020 and 2021 in Auckland’s Bay of Islands. The first regatta is due to take place from the 29th of January until the 1st of February next year and the summer yachting season is expected to draw a large crown from overseas as well as the sea-loving locals – one in every three households in Auckland owns a boat.
Luxury yacht SASSAFRAS is expected to return to racing in 2020 along with previous competitors S/Y SILVERTIP, TAWERA and JANICE OF WYOMING, plus new charter racer KAWIL. Entries for the 2021 regatta include CILLIAM and BLACK SAILS along with the aforementioned SILVERTIP, SASSAFRAS and JANICE OF WYOMING.
The headquarters for the event will be in the historic Duke of Marlborough Hotel, which received New Zealand’s first liquor license in 1840. The Bay of Islands consists of 144 islets north of the heart of Auckland and is close to the Poor Knights Islands, a popular Scuba diving location home to caves, a coral wall and a variety of colourful flora and fauna, including nudibranchs and a variety of big game fish.
