Auckland is known as the City of Sails and it boasts the world’s highest proportion of boat owners. There are several companies that offer a day out sailing on the harbour, but in our opinion, the best option is Explore Sailing’s excursions on yachts that have competed in the America’s Cup competition.
Sailing on Auckland Harbour lets you see the city from a different perspective and it also gives you the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of sailing a yacht. If you have the money, you may want to try several different sailing trips as the experience can be very different from one boat to another. For instance, sailing on a historic vessel (such as what is offered by the sailing trips run by the New Zealand Maritime Museum) is very different to sailing on a luxury yacht, which is different again from the bare-bones built-for-speed hands-on sailing experience on an America’s Cup class racing yacht.
Explore Sailing offers two experiences: a two-hour sailing excursion on the harbour where you have the option to either participate in the sailing experience or simply sit back and enjoy the ride or a three-hour match racing experience where you get the opportunity to race against another America’s Cup class yacht.