EXCLUSIVE: Auckland will play host to the next edition of the Round the World Ocean Race in 2022.
And that's the best possible news for the first all-NZ team in 25 years - led by the first female Kiwi skipper ever.
A West Auckland boatshed may seem far from the Southern Ocean, but it's the next best thing for Bianca Cook.
She's teamed up with sailing legend Tony Rae to launch the New Zealand Ocean Racing team.
"We're really looking to ignite New Zealand's passion for ocean racing again," says Cook.
She's just taken ownership of her very own ocean-race yacht - in fact, it's exactly the same boat she was on for the last edition of the race, as part of the United Nations-sponsored Turn the Tide on Plastic crew.
Halfway through the 2017/18 edition of the race regarded as the toughest test in any sport, Cook knew she wanted to do it again with an all-Kiwi team.
"It's one of those sports, one of those adventures," she says. "Sir Peter Blake was famous for saying, 'Once you do it, it gets in your blood', and without a doubt, that's exactly what is was like for me."
As well as Sir Peter, she follows in the footsteps of other Kiwi sailing royalty. This is the first New Zealand campaign since Grant Dalton's Endeavour won in 1994 and she's enticed another veteran to help out..
"She's very driven, has an amazing attitude and huge passion to do it again," says manager Rae. "That's really, to me, what it takes.
"You have to have that drive and passion, so I agreed to take this on and head the team."
Newshub can announce Auckland as a host city, with the 2021/22 race making an extended stop here.
"We want to demonstrate Auckland is a global city and that we do matter," says ATEED general manager Steve Armitage. "We have relevance on the world stage."
The announcement makes it easier for the Kiwi team to secure sponsors and provides homesick sailors a welcome moral boost.
"That's huge for us," says Cook. "Having a New Zealand stopover is a huge reason why we wanted to have a NZ team.
"There's nothing better than being able to sail into your home country."
The hardest race in sport just got that little bit easier for the Kiwi team.
