Matt and I head to Auckland to visit friends, run some errands and delve into the excitement of Sail GP!
What is Sail GP? Sail Grand Prix is a fleet of (13) F50 foiling catamarans that rip through the water at unbelievable speeds! These boats are 50 feet (15 meters) long and are high-performance, hydro-foiling catamarans. They are designed for incredibly high speeds often exceeding 100km/h (50kts) making them some of the fastest boats in the world.
Great beginners guide to Sail GP – click here.
Auckland is the 2nd stop of 13 race locations across the globe for the 2026 season.
The atmosphere was a buzz and everyone was excited to see these magnificent boats fly across the waters.
I tried to capture all of the boats but some were not cooperating. Didn’t they know I needed a team photo for each boat for this blog?
That gives you a fleet of 13 powerhouse sailing nations battling in Auckland — and let me tell you, the drama on the water has been epic (including a pretty gnarly collision between the French and Kiwi boats).
Here we have Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.
United States, Denmark, Canada, UK, and Australia.
You might notice that we are missing New Zealand and France….
Horrific Crash
Unfortunately, the weather conditions were not very good during this race weekend. It was rainy on day 1 and had gusts up to 40 kts which is too high.
On day 1, race 3, turn 1 there was a catastrophic collision between NZ and France. Read full story here.
NZ was making the turn, was caught by a gust and their rudder came out of the water. They immediately lost steerage (with no rudder) and the boat made a sharp turn directly in Team France’s path. There was nothing and no time to react. Team France’s bow severed Team NZ’s hull right where the crew were located.
One man on Team NZ had compound fractures on both legs. Another man on Team France had abdominal injuries. It was a blessing and a true miracle that nobody lost their life.
Racing ceased for the rest of the day.
Links about the Accident:
Catching up with Friends in Auckland
We have several friends that live near Auckland. We had the pleasure of spending time with Tony and Jaqui who live in Long Bay. They took us to a tasty dinner at Birds of a Feather (Asian Fusion).
The next day we met Brian and Sue from Sea Rose and had a lovely dinner at Portofino near the Viaduct.
Eyes in the Sky
We ran several errands in the “big city” of Auckland.
First, we stopped in at Costco, then Martha’s Backyard (an American “big box” store) and finally at Drone Depot.
We had a Mavic 2 Zoom which we purchased 8 years ago. It is a great drone but it was getting increasingly difficult to find battery replacements. So, it was time to upgrade.
The Drone Depot is a well stocked store with super knowledgeable and friendly staff.
They had enormous drones, small drones and everything in between. Plus every accessory you could ever imagine.
We were considering 3 drones and then narrowed it down to the Mavic Pro 4.
Now we had to decide on a package or piece meal our accessories.
In the end we went with a discounted package with a dented box (we never found the dent).
We swapped out the crappy shoulder bag and went with a Smatree waterproof and shockproof case. We also added a battery and a stick catcher.
The original bundle was going for $6500NZD, but this was discounted to $6200. Drone Depot offered it to us GST free since we had our T.I.E. The total cost was $5500 ($3300USD).
A super expensive toy, but one that captures the most amazing photos of our journey.
The top left photo compares our old DJI Mavic 2 Zoom to the new DJI Mavic Pro 4.
We are super excited to try our our new toy and showcase the amazing anchorages we visit. Stay tuned!
Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events. We were in Auckland at Sail GP mid-February 2026.
We walked the span of the beach which is simply stunning.
