By JULIE ASH
The longest yacht built in New Zealand was launched in Auckland this week.
Tiara, owned by Swiss architect Jonathan Leitersdors, is 54m (178ft) long.
Built by Alloy Yachts in west Auckland and designed by Britain's Dubois Naval Architects, the sloop is for sale for $50 million.
Tiara required 120 tonnes of aluminium, 6km of teak decking, 22km of wiring for the electronics and 50km of electrical wiring.
The tallest mast built by Auckland's Southern Spars was stepped into the yacht on Thursday.
At 63m tall, the carbon-fibre mast won't fit under Auckland Harbour Bridge, which has a clearance of 43m.
It will just clear the Bridge of the Americas which spans the Panama Canal, an important consideration for a yacht that will initially be based in the Caribbean.
Tiara's rig gave Southern Spars designers one unusual problem to solve - the crew have to be able to remove the backstay to allow a helicopter to land on the afterdeck.
The superyacht, which took 25 months to complete, leaves Auckland in early May to sail via Tahiti to Monaco.
It will be displayed at the Monaco Boat Show In September.
$50m superyacht takes to water
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