The opening day of the SailGP event in Christchurch was unexpectedly cancelled when dolphins were spotted on the racecourse, leading to a delay and eventually the decision to cancel today’s racing.
The event, which had been moved to Christchurch from Auckland follows a two-day format featuring races among 10 teams.
Despite efforts to begin the races in Lyttelton Harbour the presence of dolphins near the starting line triggered SailGP’s wildlife protection protocols, halting the competition for about 90 minutes.
With the dolphins remaining in the area organisers ultimately decided to cancel the day’s events.
SailGP managing director Andy Thompson described it as ‘a tough day for the league and our super passionate Kiwi fans.’
‘The athletes were ready to go and the conditions were epic and we were looking forward to some really fast racing. The conditions are looking really top end for tomorrow so hopefully the F50s will be out there ripping around and we can send the fans home super happy.’
