The City of Sails: Auckland's Legendary Maritime Heritage.

Auckland – the ‘city of sails’ – has more boats per capita than anywhere else in the world. For over 150 years, New Zealanders have raced in sailing craft, from superb kauri keelers to home-made dinghies. In the 1980s Kiwi yachties and leading-edge designers emerged on the international scene. Between 1995 and 2021 they won four of the seven America’s Cup regattas they contested.

From the late 19th century people began sailing as a sport. Sailboats were used for transport or to carry goods, but people also raced them, especially at regattas (organised boat races). At the Auckland Regatta, Māori and European fishermen and traders would compete. Fast mullet boats, used for fishing, were converted into racing craft.

In 1933 Johnny Wray, a young sailor with no money, built his own cruiser and sailed it around the Pacific. He became a hero for many Kiwi yachties. Cruising is popular in the Hauraki Gulf, Bay of Islands and Marlborough Sounds.