New Zealand’s sailing capital, Auckland, is back in the Volvo Ocean Race after a gap of 10 years.  The city last hosted the event in 2001-02. It will stage the leg four finish from Sanya in China and the start of leg five, which will take the fleet into the Southern Ocean once again, round Cape Horn and up to a finish in Itajai, Brazil.

“It is with the greatest pleasure I can confirm Auckland, New Zealand has won its bid to become a stopover port in the next Volvo Ocean Race. The local people have an immense appreciation of sailing, and the Volvo Ocean Race in particular,” said Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad. “Many of the world’s best-known sailors are from New Zealand, and we are proud to bring the race back to the City of Sails, where we will be sure of a huge reception.”

“This announcement completes the route and our goal of contracting all the ports before the end of March 2010, significantly earlier than in previous race cycles. The preliminary course will be published during April,” Frostad added.

The route for 2011-12 is now set and includes: start port Alicante, Spain; Cape Town, South Africa; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Sanya, China; Auckland, New Zealand; Itajai, Brazil; Miami, USA; Lisbon, Portugal, Lorient, France; and finish port Galway, Ireland.

For more, visit www.volvooceanrace.org