March 25, 2024
Dolphin sport sparks Coutts tantrum
SailGP chef executive Sir Russell Coutts has blamed Lyttelton hapu Ngāti Wheke for Saturday’s racing being scrapped because of the presence of dolphins in the harbour.
He said SailGP had a extreme marine mammal management plan forced upon it by the Department of Conservation, Environment Canterbury and Ngāti Wheke for the event.
It was an example of New Zealand being handcuffed by unprecedented layers of bureaucracy and red tape, and he was astonished by the amount of influence iwi have over the authorities.
Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke and host city agency ChristchurchNZ says the marine mammal protection plan had earlier been praised by SailGP as an industry-leading example of its commitment to the environments in which it operates.
The plan was created to protect the dolphins from the possibility of being struck by the blade of an F50 foiling at speeds of up to 100kmh.
Hapu chair Michele Radford said SailGP knew what it signed up for when it decided to hold the event within a marine mammal sanctuary.