“We put in a huge effort to make this work for the last two years in a row and the events were fantastic,” Mauger said.
SailGP announced yesterday season five of the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix would not be held in Lyttelton Harbour, after withdrawing from its hosting agreement with ChristchurchNZ.
There were signals the 2025 competition would not be back after this year’s racing wrapped up, Mauger said.
In March, SailGP chief executive Sir Russell Coutts criticised authorities for “unprecedented layers of bureaucracy and red tape”.
A day of sailing was cancelled due to regulations protecting the vulnerable Hector’s dolphin.
Otago University zoology professor Liz Slooten has been a leading critic of hosting SailGP in Lyttelton Harbour due to risks of disturbing or harming marine mammals.
“I’m delighted to hear that they have decided not to come back to Christchurch,” she said.
“They’ve finally seen sense and decided that this is not a good location.”
Slooten said protecting Hector’s dolphins should be prioritised over the economic benefits of the event.
“Even with that, these dolphins are really important for tourism in Banks Peninsula so we really shouldn’t be taking a risk with them in that regard.”
She suggested hosting the event in Auckland or Queenstown would be safer for marine mammals.
Lyttelton Harbour Business Association chair Siouxzi Rowe was “surprised” by SailGP’s withdrawal due to the existing hosting agreement for next year.
“It would have been a bonus and a benefit to us, but I mean we’ll just have to carry on.”
Though not a devastating economic loss, Rowe said the competition had been beneficial for giving Lyttelton an international profile.
Lyttelton resident Zoe Brock said it was "a shame" the event was not returning.
"ChristchurchNZ and everyone involved bent over backwards and jumped through more hoops than you can imagine to make that event happen this year," she said.
"He sprung it on Christchurch with three months' notice...but we made it all happen."
Coutts had expressed sympathies to "fans and local businesses" when taking aim at authorities.
Christchurch's Banks Peninsula ward city councillor Tyrone Fields said he was unsure as to why the event was not returning.
"It's a really great environment for it, it was really backed by local people in Lyttelton and Christchurch.
"We would have liked to have seen it go on but they've made their decision, I'm not sure why, but it is what it is."
Despite the opening day cancellation, the second and final day was seen as a major success as New Zealand sailed to a fourth win of the season in front of home fans.
Skipper Peter Burling described the day as "'the absolute best in SailGP history".
Fields hoped this would be the legacy of the Lyttelton event.
When asked how residents would feel about the event not returning, he said they "won't miss the disruption".
"There were people who were in love with it and people who said 'it's ruining my business for the weekend'.
"Broadly speaking, the community embraced it."
Environment Canterbury field operations general manager Leigh Griffiths stood by the efforts of the local harbourmaster during March's racing.
"The Harbourmaster's Office team did an excellent job supporting the SailGP team and keeping the on-water public and staff safe," he said.
"We supported SailGP wherever we could, including trying to accommodate a last-minute, unplanned racing schedule change."
Lyttelton 'never the right place' for SailGP
Environmentalists have expressed delight at the decision for SailGP not to return to Lyttelton.
Māui and Hector's Dolphin Defenders chair Christine Rose said Lyttelton was "never the right place for a high speed boat race".
'With appropriate planning and respect for the marine environment and its rare inhabitants, Lyttelton harbour should have been avoided from the outset.
"We and our supporters are all very pleased that the decision has been made, to host the SailGP races elsewhere in 2025.
"We trust that will be somewhere Hector's dolphins do not also live."
Meanwhile, Slooten said SailGP organisers had made the right call.
"They've come to the conclusion that it's too much bother to do a yacht race like this in a marine mammal sanctuary," she said.
"It wouldn't have mattered if it was a normal yacht race...but these boats are going 100 kilometres an hour and it's just too fast to be doing that."
Coutts called out previous remarks by Slooten about the endangered status of Hector dolphins, calling the claims "a total lie".
Slooten said the only way Lyttleton would be a workable location is if it was during the winter months when there were fewer dolphins.
A post-event report for SailGP by Deloitte outlined the benefits of the March event, which amassed a total economic impact of $33.7 million for Canterbury, with a gross expenditure of $15.4 million by the league and competing teams.
According to FreshInfo, the 2024 event generated a visitor spend of $3.3 million.
This was based on 6091 visitors from outside Canterbury staying an average of 2.67 nights.
The withdrawal decision follows two seasons of SailGP in Christchurch.
The original agreement, which included Christchurch and Auckland alternating as hosts between seasons three and six, was varied in 2023 when SailGP shifted from Auckland due to land restrictions surrounding the venue.
With the original intention to host two events fulfilled, ChristchurchNZ has accepted SailGP’s decision to withdraw from the 2025 hosting agreement.
-Additional reporting RNZ
