"Given that in her life she must see an awful lot, I was very impressed that she was able to ask so many questions - and they were intelligent questions."
"She wanted to know about the class of the boat and how it was built."
With the Team New Zealand crew, including Olympic rower Rob Waddell, watching from NZL60 docked alongside, Mr Barker boarded NZL57 with the Duke.
"He just loved it," Mr Barker said outside the Team New Zealand office after the visit.
"He seemed really at home on the boat. He was asking questions about how the boats were constructed and how they were designed.
"I was very impressed at how he leaped on and off it."
Prince Philip is an avid sailor and regularly competes at the Cowes Regatta in the UK which last year staged an America's Cup Reunion.
During their 25-minute visit, the Queen and Duke were also shown an assortment of boat pieces.
With her white-gloved hand the Queen poked and prodded pieces of carbon fibre, from which the boats are made, and a piece of a spinnaker pole.
She could be heard to say, "Yes its quite strong", as she tapped a sample of a boat's hull.
Wearing a royal blue coat over a black and white checked dress, the Queen was shaded from the 24-degree heat and the strong glare of the water, by a blue hat with a wide white brim. Her black patent leather shoes matched her black patent handbag.
Shadowed by four men in dark suits and three ladies-in-waiting, she was one of only a few people outside Team New Zealand members to be guided beneath the skirts hiding the keel of NZL60 - the boat that won the America's Cup in Auckland two years ago.
Shortly before she boarded the Royal Barge to take her across to greet the 3000-strong crowd gathered in Waitemata Plaza, Mr Schnackenberg presented the Queen with a bag containing Team New Zealand polo shirts and caps for her six grandchildren - Prince William, Prince Harry, the Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and Princess Anne's children Zara and Peter.
Today was the last full day of the Queen's visit to New Zealand. She arrived in Wellington on Friday from Jamaica.
Late this afternoon, about 1200 invited guests were due to attend a garden reception at Government House in Auckland.
Royal Visit 2002
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
