Issue date
It's a hive of activity down in the Race Village with more than 59,000 visitors flocking to the Viaduct over the weekend. All six of the Volvo Ocean 65 boats have now been hauled out of the water and lifted on to cradles for maintenance and repairs. The masts have been wheeled off site for their maintenance and The Boatyard is busy looking at any work required on the sails.
The Boatyard is open to the public so come and watch Nick Bice and his team doing the hard yards to get the boats in shape for the voyage to Itajai, Brazil, starting on 15 March.
It is expected that the boats will be back in the water by Monday 9 March.
Great for the Kids!
Children of all ages are loving the Race Village. The under-4's can drive a car or digger with controls to raise and lower the buckets. Drive on the left or the right, stop for pedestrians or learn to park, there's fun for all skill levels.
Aspiring Lydia Ko's can start putting in the practice on the mini golf course around the corner and there's a shaded sand pit - housed in a shipping container.
Children aged 5 and over can try a free sailing experience with Yachting New Zealand. The fleet of four Topper Omega boats are taking novice sailors around the inner harbour for a 15 minute joy ride.
An adult must accompany 5-8 year olds; older children (8-16s) can sail with the instructor if a parent or guardian registers the child.
When it's time to move on, put the kids to pose in the photo frame with the Sky Tower in the background and snap some memories before exploring the rest of the Race Village.
The Auckland Stopover runs from 27 February to 15 March 2015.
12 Mar 2015: Practice Race and Heineken Pro-Am Race 1
13 Mar 2015: Heineken Pro-Am Races 2 & 3
14 Mar 2015: The New Zealand Herald In-Port Race
15 Mar 2015: Start of Leg 5, Auckland to Itajai, Brazil
Follow the Race
The organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 have made it easy to follow all the live action from the Race every minute of the day. There's live video streaming, a Race Tracker, blogs, daily updates on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter in addition to global media coverage. Find all the links at www.volvooceanrace.com. Download the free App for Android here or i-Phone here
Website
Keep up to date with all the news from the Auckland Stopover on our website. We are on Facebook and Twitter too.
