Wind set for City of Sails' Harbour Festival

Auckland Anniversary Day yacht racing on the Waitemata Harbour. Picture / Martin Sykes

Ten knots of wind from the east and a flat harbour set up Auckland today for one of the city's biggest birthday regattas in years.

Auckland celebrated its 166th birthday over the weekend, and Dave Stewart, the organiser of the inaugural Auckland Harbour Festival, said the weather gods had smiled on the city.

Last night cars stopped at every vantage point as a huge fireworks display lit up downtown Auckland.

On the North Shore about 200 cars stopped on the side of the northern motorway and harbour bridge approaches for a view across the harbour to the Viaduct Basin where the fireworks were launched from barges in the inner harbour.

The fireworks display followed a live concert featuring the popular band Goldenhorse, and the Exponents, giving possibly their last live performance.

Today a parade of tall ships sailed down the harbour under full sail before the anniversary regatta began.

One of the ships, Adix, a 50m yawl rigged three-masted ship, came from England for the regatta but the Australian sail training ship Windeward Bound failed to arrive on time after being buffeted by a storm and unfavourable winds on its voyage across the Tasman.

As the tall ships were joined by about 60 classic yachts from around the country in the parade of sail, Windeward Bound was still about 190 nautical miles from Auckland and making slow progress, Mr Stewart said.

However, he said conditions were perfect in the harbour and Hauraki Gulf for the regatta and harbour events.

"It is fantastic. Obviously the weather gods have been smiling on us for this festival," Mr Stewart said.

"Last night's balmy evening was just unbelievable. It felt like we were in the south of France."

Today will also include a flypast by air force aircraft and a concert featuring the Auckland Philharmonic on a barge in the Viaduct Basin.

Crowds for the first two days exceeded expectations with nearly 50,000 people attending events on both Saturday and yesterday.

Mr Stewart said they expected to have more than 150,000 people attending events over the three days by the time the crowds rolled up for today's activities.

"I always believed that given the opportunity, Auckland really knew how to party, and this weekend has proven that to me beyond a shadow of a doubt," he said.

- NZPA