The New Zealand Sail Grand Prix is pleased to welcome a new partner to the whānau: Christchurch community-owned fibre broadband provider, Enable. Enable joins as official partner of the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch and presenting partner of the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix live site - an action-packed fan zone bringing the thrills and excitement of SailGP right into the heart of the Ōtautahi city centre.
Head of the New Zealand event Karl Budge said: “We’re delighted to bring Enable on board as a key partner for the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix. Their commitment to the local community made Enable an obvious choice for us, both at next summer’s event and also when we return to Whakaraupō, Lyttelton Harbour in Season 5.”
100% owned by the people of Christchurch, Enable provides fibre broadband to more than 146,000 homes, businesses and schools in Christchurch and towns in the Waimakariri and Selwyn districts. And, they’ll do the same for next summer’s event when SailGP transforms Naval Point into not only a vibrant event village, but a high-tech base for nine international teams and their hydrofoiling F50 catamarans plus hundreds of staff and suppliers working to bring the event to life.
Enable Chief Executive Johnathan Eele said: “It’s been a pleasure teaming up with SailGP to provide fibre broadband services to power next summer’s event. As a Christchurch company we are excited to be able to literally connect such an exciting event held in our own backyard with the world”
“Enable’s ultra-fast, super reliable network will be vital to daily operations, with connections on our world-leading fibre service providing the critical infrastructure needed to transmit racing data from hydrofoiling catamarans to athletes and coaching staff, while also connecting teams working across on-land and on-water operations centres,” Eele says.
The fibre connection is vital to the operations of such a technology-forward sporting event. In addition to the racing data for the teams there are significant requirements for the remote judging and the detailed onscreen graphics seen by the home viewers and expected worldwide audience of over 1.8 billion viewers, which are reliant on a high-speed fibre connection.
Outside of the event village, Enable will help to bring the city to life with activations and entertainment at the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix live site – a free fan zone located in the grassy area in front of Te Pae. Presented by Enable, the area will extend the vibrant, race village atmosphere of SailGP into the city centre, offering big screen viewing of live race coverage on both Saturday and Sunday.
The area, already connected by Christchurch Free WiFi built on the Enable fibre broadband network, will be the place to be for fans who missed out on SailGP tickets – snapped up in less than 24 hours – as well as those looking for a family-friendly day out during next summer’s mega event. Outside of the racing, the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix live site will offer a wider programme of entertainment, food, beverage and activations.
The New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch will unfold over two action-packed days of racing on the spectacular Whakaraupō, Lyttelton Harbour 18-19 March 2023.
Delivered in partnership with ChristchurchNZ and presenting partner Enable, additional details about the city centre live site will be shared in due course.
Learn more at sailgp.com/newzealand and christchurchnz.com/sailgp
