Music will be part of the waterfront experience once again when the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland comes to town, with soul and electronic collective LEISURE confirmed for a DJ set following Saturday's racing.
The Auckland-based group will take the decks at Heineken House on Saturday evening, providing post-race entertainment for those holding Grandstand and Waterfront Premium tickets. Rather than a full live production, the performance is designed as a one-off DJ set assembled specifically for the occasion.
The thinking behind the programme is straightforward enough. When racing concludes for the day, the focus shifts to shore rather than letting the crowd drift away, keeping the waterfront busy well into the evening. Heineken House serves as the hub for that, with food, drinks, and music picking up directly after the final race.
Sunday carries much the same shape, with DJ Chris Keene lined up to perform once the weekend's racing is done. Keene is a well-known presence on the local festival circuit, and his set is expected to close out the on-shore programme after the last races of the event are completed.
The entertainment sits within the broader context of SailGP's return to Auckland as the second stop of the Rolex SailGP Championship 2026 season. Thirteen national teams will compete aboard identical F50 foiling catamarans. New Zealand's entry, the Black Foils, is helmed by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. The season opener in Perth was not without drama. By the end of race 1, only 11 teams remained in contention, with Spain sidelined for the leg following pre-race practice incidents. New Zealand's campaign suffered an early blow when the team's transom was taken off by Switzerland's foil near the start of the first race. All going well, every team will be back on the start line when competition moves to Auckland.
Emirates GBR took the win in Perth.
For ticket holders, the combination of on-water competition and a developed on-shore programme means a full day at the waterfront rather than one arranged solely around the race schedule. Racing remains the centrepiece, but organisers are building out the on-shore experience to give spectators a reason to stay once the boats come in.
