An Auckland sailing cruise in the City of Sails

Sailing here is far older than the city. The New Zealand Maritime Museum traces the country's life on the water back to the arrival of the very first waka.² Its galleries trace that line from the earliest Polynesian voyagers to modern racing champions, which makes it a rewarding hour before you go out on the water.¹⁵ Pause at the waka displays: they explain the navigation that brought people here long before charts.

The colonial harbour ran on sail too. Scows, flat and sturdy sailing barges, were the workhorses of the coastal trade, hauling logs, sand, passengers and livestock on their decks.¹⁶ The museum built its own, Ted Ashby, the last scow of her kind to be built; construction began in 1992 and took 11,000 hours of volunteer labour.^17,18 She was launched in time for the museum's opening in 1993, and she still sails the Waitematā.^19,20

Trade also lit the harbour. After gold was found on the Coromandel Peninsula in 1868, merchants pushed for lights between Auckland and Thames, and Bean Rock Lighthouse was the result.²¹ No other lighthouse of its kind survives in the country: a wooden cottage on legs, washed by the waves off the eastern bays.²² Look for it on any harbour sail: a small white house on stilts, seemingly floating on the tide.

No sporting trophy in the world is older than the America's Cup, and it remains the summit of competitive yachting.⁴⁰ For New Zealand the story turns on NZL32, nicknamed Black Magic, which the Maritime Museum describes as the original winning boat of 1995.³ In the museum's words, the Waitematā has since become a world battleground for the sport's top prize.⁴¹ Standing on the busy Viaduct today, with race yachts tied up at the pontoons, it is hard to picture a time when the Cup felt remote.

Boats from that era still sail the harbour. Explore Group's NZL41 began life as a Japanese challenger in 1995, racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup series that the Kiwi crew won on their way to lifting the Cup.^42,3 Its sister NZL68 was built in 2003 for a German team, then became a practice boat for New Zealand's 2007 campaign.⁴³ The company itself began in 2000 with a single America's Cup yacht in Auckland.⁴⁴

The Cup has kept coming back. Emirates Team New Zealand, sailing for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, defended it at the 36th America's Cup in Auckland in 2021.¹³ It defended it again at the 37th match in Barcelona in 2024, which keeps the squadron as the Cup's official home.^14,45 The waterfront still carries traces of the campaigns: Hobson Wharf Pocket Park, behind the museum, was once a visiting team's base.⁴⁶

Not everyone wants grinders and spray. The gentler choice is a harbour sailing cruise in Auckland on a 50ft cruising yacht: 1.5 hours, open to all ages, with a hot drink and the chance to steer if you want it.^50,29 Explore runs a fleet of three identical yachts for this, each carrying 18 passengers.²³ It suits families, first-timers and anyone who would rather look at the city than work the boat.

For a yacht outing with a meal, the dinner sail lasts 2.5 hours and serves three courses from The Lula Inn as the city lights come on. For history over speed, the museum's scow Ted Ashby offers a one-hour sail on the Waitematā, and guests help hoist her sails.^27,51 Ted Ashby sailings start with check-in at the museum's front desk, diagonally across the corner from the Explore kiosk.^52,53 Each of these choices shows the same harbour from a different deck.

Whichever you choose, the harbour itself is the main event. Watch for racing fleets on weekends, ferries crossing towards Devonport and Waiheke, and the bridge growing larger as you sail west. Ask the crew about the boats you pass: they often know who owns them and what they have won. That is the City of Sails at its truest, a working harbour that is also a city's playground. Bring a camera, a warm layer and plenty of questions.