Two weeks ago, the
first day of racing of the Sail Grand Prix regatta in Lyttleton Harbour was
cancelled due to the sighting of a Hector’s dolphin. That followed a practice
day, where sailing was restricted to only 11 minutes. And on the final race day
teams were again refused practice time.
The race area is a dolphin sanctuary and the race organisers had agreed to
abide by the special protocols that were put in place.
However, world champion New Zealand yachtsman and SailGP Executive Director Sir
Russell Coutts believes the restrictions were excessive and a symptom of a
wider problem that New Zealand faces.
