For Kiwis sailing is not only a hobby, it is also a lifestyle and career …

Mr. Stephan van der Meulen, General Manager of Worldhotel Bel Air.

New Zealand Ambassador Janet Lowe was delighted to be present at the Volvo Ocean Race party in Worldhotel Bel Air The Hague.

On 8^th March the Worldhotel Bel Air – official hotel partner of the Volvo Ocean Race Festival The Hague – hosted a party with the New Zealand Ambassador to the Netherlands Janet Lowe to celebrate the departure of the Volvo Ocean Race boats from Auckland. The plan was to watch the boats live on TV as they sailed out of Auckland harbour to their next destination Itajai in Brazil.  However due to bad weather caused by Cyclone Pam (which wrecked havoc in Vanuatu) the race organisers sensibly decided to postpone the departure date.  As Ambassador Lowe said, “This is the Volvo Ocean Race not the Ocean Survival Race!”.

Regarding the Auckland stopover, the Ambassador noted: “New Zealand is a sailing nation.  Be it as a hobby, lifestyle or career, New Zealanders have a strong affinity with the sea. You can hardly drive an hour in our country without hitting the coast, and Kiwis can be found sailing all over the world.  Abel Tasman (who ‘discovered’ New Zealand) and James Cook were the first to reach our island country from Europe on sailing ships.  And Auckland, which is known as the “City of Sails”, has more boats per capita than any city in the world.  New Zealanders are therefore delighted to be hosting the Volvo Ocean Race once again”.

Dutch Volvo Ocean Race media manager Diana Bogaards gave a fascinating presentation on the history and background of the Volvo Ocean Race and the special features of the current race that departed from Alicante, Spain, in October 2014.  “There is no prize money. It’s all about the sport  and the honour and glory of winning”, she said.  One of the guests was Hermann Megenthaler, who sailed for Mexico in the 1984 Olympic Games.   Meanwhile the departure from Auckland has taken place on Tuesday 17 March with all the boats leaving safely for Itajai, Brazil.

For a full photo-album of the event, please click here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157649097288433/