Issue date
It's one of the biggest single-day regattas in the world and participants are encouraged to sign up for this year's Ports of Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta on January 30.
There will be a host of races, including dragon boating and waka races, passage and harbour races for keelers, and dinghy racing at Tamaki, French Bay, Murray's Bay, Takapuna, Bayswater and Kohimarama sailing clubs. Radio controlled yachts sail from Westhaven and St Mary's Bay.
There are also cash prizes and spot prizes to be given away, not to mention trophies worth nearly $100,000 awarded at prizegiving but kept on permanent display at the New Zealand Maritime Mueseum (winners have their names engraved on the cups).
Keelers and tugboats are encouraged to enter online. All other classes can register with their host club on Anniversary Day.
For more information, see https://www.regatta.org.nz/
Some fun facts (courtesy of https://nzhistory.govt.nz/auckland-anniversary-day)
The first regatta on Auckland harbour was an impromptu three-race affair on September 18, 1840 - the day an advance party arrived to found the colony's new capital.
The first Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta was held in 1842 but it wasn't until 1850, after a period when horse racing at Epsom was favoured, that it became an annual event.
The only time it was cancelled was in 900 during the South African War.
Powerboats raced for the first time in 1903, and seaplanes in 1919.
