The 2003 International Sailing Federation ISAF World Team Racing Championship Regatta is to be sailed outside the American Express Viaduct Harbour, Auckland.

The week long event, from January 31^st to February 7^th 2003, will consist of two Round Robin series between the various countries, culminating in quarter-finals, semi- finals and finals.

• Czech Republic (2001)
• Ireland (1999)
• United States (1997)
• United Kingdom (1995).

This is the ideal time and place for New Zealand to hold the ISAF World Team Racing Championship. For the first time the most sought after match racing and team racing events will be at the same place in 2003.

The venue for the 2003 ISAF World Team Racing Championship will be at the Viaduct Harbour outside the America’s Cup Village, in the heart of Auckland City. The timing of the event will be between the Louis Vuitton Cup and 31^st America’s Cup Match in February 2003. The atmosphere in the America’s Cup Village will be electric.

The 2000 America’s Cup was a huge success with hundreds of thousands of spectators flocking to the Cup Village for prime positions to be involved in this celebration of Yachting. We expect large numbers of spectators for the ISAF World Team Racing Championship, with spectator stands set up and live commentary for the racing.

Event Facilities

The event headquarters, offices & marquee will be on the Hobson wharf with a similar set up to the Steinlager / Line 7 regatta.

The free to the public spectator stand however will be constructed on the Raupaki (floating crane maritime museum)

What is Team Racing?

Many yacht races turn into a procession, and from a spectator’s point of view are either boring, unintelligible, or both. Team racing is quite the opposite.

Here we use identical boats and equipment to make racing a true test of skill. The course is close to spectators and is of a style for close tactical racing. Where as in match racing it is one boat against one boat, in team racing it is three boats against three boats, sailing to achieve the best overall team result. The hull and sails of each boat in a team are the same colour, so you can see immediately what the positions are.

Each team tries to reach a winning combination of places - the lowest score wins.

The team that scores 10 points or less is the winner.

A team racer can use a number of possible tactics to improve their team’s position - slow down opposition boats by positioning their boat between the opposition and the wind or use the right of way rules to their advantage to make the opposition change course or incur penalties. Along with these tactical weapons a team racer must also at times have excellent boat speed and ability to manoeuvre efficiently.

To start, boats must cross an imaginary line between the start boat and a nearby buoy at the end of a timed countdown on a digital display. They then sail a designated course, followed by umpires on inflatables who instantly penalize rule infringements by obliging competitors to do penalty turns.

Team racing is widely enjoyed in many countries, in clubs, schools and universities. Most of the top sailors at youth level in New Zealand experience team racing at some point in Secondary School if their local school qualifies for the National Secondary School Team Racing Championships. It is a result of this that New Zealand and Australian teams have experienced success at a World Championship open age regatta level.