File photo. The New Zealand SailGP Team in action on Sydney Harbour, 2024. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
SailGP and the regional council are yet to finalise fees needed for the New Zealand leg of racing to go ahead on Christchurch's Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour in three weeks' time.
A marine mammal management plan designed to prevent collisions with the high speed catamarans was also yet to be completed.
Racing organiser SailGP has to pay Canterbury Regional Council a fee to use the harbour for the event, scheduled for 23 and 24 March.
In a statement, the council said the fee for the event was "being worked through SailGP".
"The permissions that Canterbury Regional Council grant for this event have no legal effect until the required fee has been paid," it said.
A SailGP spokesperson said: "While SailGP is typically not required to in other venues, in Christchurch this has included paying limited fees to Environment Canterbury to cover event permissions and other regulatory services.
"As with any major event, many payments happen pre-event and many post-event. All commercial agreements are bound by confidentiality," the spokesperson said.
The council said SailGP last year paid it $75,000 for "costs associated with a reservation for harbour use and support to keep participants and spectators safe in the harbour during the 2023 event practice and racing".
Asked why this amount was not paid again for the 2024 event, it said "This year's event is bigger in scale. The increase in fees from the 2023 event includes an extra training day, charging for pre-event planning and meetings, and work undertaken to draft and finalise documentation and applications."
The council declined to say how much the fees were this year or the latest date it would accept payment.
"With the Lyttelton venue only being announced in December, we are still finalising all the requirements to run the event safely for all. We are working closely with SailGP and will finalise arrangements as soon as possible," it said.
"SailGP paid the majority of the fees before the event was held last year [in March 2023]. There were a few additional charges that were incurred in late March that were paid soon after," the council confirmed.
SailGP said it was continuing to "work with its partners and relevant authorities to finalise planning" for the event, and noted the event's deadlines had been compressed due to the late notice shift from Auckland.
"We look forward to delivering another fantastic showcase on Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour," the spokesperson said.
ChristchurchNZ, the city's economic development agency, confirmed it paid SailGP $1.5m to host the 2023 event.
General manager of destination and attraction Loren Aberhart said it would pay substantially less this time around.
"ChristchurchNZ is paying SailGP a reduced fee of $400,000, plus $300,000 value in kind. The reduced fee is due to the late decision to host in Christchurch for the 2024 event," she said.
The "in kind" contribution included funding for "staffing, marketing, leverage and legacy, live site and other forms of event related support which includes a mix of cash and non-cash."
"One instalment has been paid to date with two instalments left to be paid. The second instalment will be paid before the event, with the third being paid post event and upon an event report provided," Aberhart said.
Tickets for both days of the racing event and team base tours were still available on Monday.
Marine Mammal Management Plan also outstanding
The event's Marine Mammal Management Plan (MMMP) was also yet to be completed.
The plan sets out the processes to follow if mammals, including the nationally threatened upokohue Hector's dolphins, are seen approaching or inside the event's boundaries where they could potentially come into the path of the F50 foils travelling up to 100kmph.
File photo. Key changes are being made to the plan to prevent collisions with mammals including the endangered upokohue Hector's dolphin. Photo: Biosphoto via AFP
It was created in conjunction with Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke and the Department of Conservation (DoC), but had been under scrutiny since it was breached during the 2023 event.
"On 19 March 2023, during the final race, an incident occurred where, as the racing vessels approached the final marker, two dolphins crossed the boundary into the race zone," a DoC memo obtained by RNZ said.
If a marine mammal is sighted within this zone, the plan stated the "event director shall cease racing and instruct all boats to drop off the foils if racing is underway, support boats shall be instructed to keep speed below 5 knots".
This did not happen, and racing continued.
It's illegal to harm, harass, injure or kill marine mammals in New Zealand, and by law, vessels can travel no faster than 5 knots when within 300 metres of a marine mammal.
"The consequences for SailGP breaching the MMMP were not clear cut given the plan was not legally binding," the memo said.
"After investigating, [DoC] could not be certain the yachts were within 300m of the dolphins, and there is no evidence to indicate the individual skippers were aware of the dolphins.
"The SailGP MMMP worked well throughout the event up until the SailGP race director decided to continue with the race, despite advice to stop," the memo said.
SailGP said it was "working towards reviewing" the plan with Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke and DoC for the 2024 event.
"Overarching principles and key changes" had already been agreed, a SailGP spokesperson said, which included "the appointment of an independent decision-maker with the power to stop or delay racing.
"SailGP are now into final operational planning for implementing the plan, alongside our partners. Once this is complete in the coming weeks, the plan will be released publicly," it said.
When asked for a more concrete deadline, SailGP responded "finalising these few remaining areas is of the utmost importance to all involved, and the review will most certainly be complete ahead of the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix Christchurch."
New Zealand is currently placed second in SailGP's regular season, eight points behind Australia.