The 2025 New Zealand Millennium Cup begins with welcome festivities this Saturday, 1st of February.

With courses dotted amongst the volcanoes, islands and channels of Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, this year’s regatta is shaping up to be a showdown of epic proportions with yachts returning to the race, and those making their regatta debut.

In the second consecutive edition to be raced in Auckland after its Bay of Islands tenure, the 2025 NZ Millennium Cup will welcome back Kawil for the first time after her Bay of Islands win in 2020. Also returning to the Cup are two regatta favourites.

Royal Huisman’s Sassafras has a long history of hitting the New Zealand Millennium Cup race course with elegance and panache, belying her fierce approach to racing. Fellow repeat campaigner, Janice of Wyoming has established a sterling reputation as a competitive entry with a crew as fun as her signature cowboy spinnaker.

The regatta is raced on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, an historical sailing tie-in that isn’t lost on entries. The fleet will be taking on the Auckland conditions which have been enjoyed by the world’s leading yachtsmen in America’s Cup and Round the World races, and experiencing the beauty of a harbour which turned a nation into sailors.
Classic sailing yacht Innismara, will race in the Pacific Cup Class, crewed by the same group of young sailors who restored the 1969 launch to her former glory. Alongside her in the Pacific Cup Class, Lion New Zealand and Steinlager, will race presented by the NZ Sailing Trust.

Combined with twenty one industry sponsors and a wide-range of world-renowned sailors, the 2025 New Zealand Millennium Cup is lining up to be a showcase of the way New Zealand’s cruising grounds and penchant for racing has created a sailing culture all of its own.

The regatta takes place in the centre of Auckland from 1-4 February 2025.
“Racing the regatta in the heart of our harbour city is an experience we love to give to our guests,” says event organiser, Stacey Cook.

“These are the waters which have hosted America’s Cup showdowns, Volvo Ocean Race starts and honed generations of New Zealand sailors, so we know they’re a challenging, and very picturesque, place to race.”

New Zealand’s Orams Marine’s refit season using its two superyacht buildings is in full-swing.

The first yacht to use one of the 60 metre refit buildings was a 40 metre Hoek Design vessel which underwent an extensive refit and emerged ready for launch and rig stepping.

Showing the sheer scale of the two superyacht buildings, the buildings have been continuously occupied by yachts visiting Orams Marine’s central Auckland yard for refit since they became operational last year.

The two superyacht buildings are in addition to Orams Marine’s existing refit sheds and workspaces and offer a fully covered and controlled environment, with both featuring 60 by 20 metre doors. Each superyacht building is accessed by the yard’s 820 tonne travel lift and both are fitted with internal gantry cranes.
The two additions are part of a wide-ranging expansion over the past three years, which has included creating extra hardstand, doubled capacity for marine service companies, and  additional 820 tonne and 85 tonne travel lifts, in addition to the existing travel lift, and 600 tonne slipway already on site. They also join three new 90 metre marina fingers, which join Orams Marine’s existing marinas.

Orams Marine has served the marine industry from its Auckland location for 36 years and CEO, Neven Barbour says the new additions create a world-class facility in a world-class location.
Many of the on-site marine trades and services will expand their capacity and capabilities as new premises are built to accommodate their growth.

As superyachts leave the covered buildings, they’re able to continue their refit on the extensive hard stand, or within marinas build specifically for work alongside. The yard has more than 880 metres of work berths serviced by cranes, with deep water access and no air draft restriction.

Inbuilt to the project is a water treatment plant which ensures the facility is a world-leader in the refit market in protecting the environment. The result is a full-service refit destination able to cater to a broad range of vessels; from the 310 berth boat park to berths for the largest vessels in the cruising fleet.
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The site is set in the heart of Auckland’s marine precinct in a prime waterfront location, and is a short walk from Auckland’s CBD. This world-class yard has become a favourite with refitting crew due to its high-quality work, excellent amenities nearby, attractive and secure crew housing, and easy access to Auckland’s Harbour and Hauraki Gulf islands.

As a gateway to some of the most-adventurous cruising grounds in the world, the Orams Marine team is adept at refitting yachts which need to be prepared for any cruising conditions.

The NZ Millennium Cup gets underway next week, setting the scene for 81 metre Royal Huisman-built Sea Eagle’s first ever appearance in a regatta.​

One of the world’s top ten largest sailing yachts, Sea Eagle has stood out since her launch in 2020.

With a 45,000NM world exploration under her belt, this contemporary schooner has more than proved her sea kindliness, though has yet to be tested in a regatta. All that’s about to change though, when she takes to the New Zealand track in early February.

“This is a very large yacht to be throwing around on a race course with several other superyachts,” says Sea Eagle captain, Henry Say, of the approaching debut.

“Hopefully the weather behaves itself. We have a very experienced race crew who specialise in sailing yachts of this calibre. We are all excited to try something new and see what the boat can do; though I guess you could say we are a little nervous.”

Sea Eagle was built by New Zealand Millennium Cup Gold Sponsor, Royal Huisman, to a design by Dykstra Naval Architects, to include an enormous sail area. With 2,580sqm upwind; and 3552sqm downwind, as well as the ability to hoist all three mainsails easily at once, the efficiency of the sail management system has been proven while taking in many of the world’s great cruising grounds under sail. Now, that sail area will be tested during racing.

“The brief for Sea Eagle was to create an extremely comfortable and spacious superyacht with good sea keeping and exceptional amenities for all onboard,” says Royal Huisman’s Bas Isselmann.

“She had to offer outstanding passage-making performance so that the owner could take in as much of the world under sail as possible. She had to be a true sailor’s yacht; practical, powerful, safe and easily managed. Finally, she had to be functional, favouring simplicity and reliability over unnecessary frills. And that is the yacht that we delivered - with a good deal of team pride.”

Captain Say is confident the advanced systems onboard will translate into a successful regatta.
“We are confident the boat will be up for the challenge and get around the course. Our training days will provide us with a better understanding of the yacht's performance and handling capabilities. Not only do we have 2,500 sqm of sails to handle we have a 1,600sqm spinnaker which has only been used a handful of times. To start tacking, gybing, hoisting and dropping these sails will test the crew and our equipment.

However the captain tells us he’s really looking forward to the event and having a chance to show the world what Sea Eagle can do.

“We are looking forward to getting a strong team together and taking part in a well organised, social event. It is something the owners of the yacht have never done, so showing them the racing side of the sport will be exciting. Obviously we love sailing Sea Eagle and are looking forward to showcasing her performance.”

The regatta takes place in the centre of Auckland from 1-4 February 2025.
“Racing the regatta in the heart of our harbour city is an experience we love to give to our guests,” says event organiser, Stacey Cook.

“These are the waters which have hosted America’s Cup showdowns, Volvo Ocean Race starts and honed generations of New Zealand sailors, so we know they’re a challenging, and very picturesque, place to race.”

We're thrilled to present this year's sailing programme. Download the sailing programme here to meet the entries, discover where we'll be racing and get a sneak peek at why we do what we do. 

Four of the world’s ten largest sailing yachts are either built by, or under construction at, Royal Huisman: Athena, Sea Eagle, Project 410 and 411. And there's a number of breathtaking concept designs such as APEX 850, LOTUS and the ground-breaking concept WING100 eager to contribute to this list.

Designed by internationally-renowned architects and the shipyard team, these concepts are unique examples of what can be realised in the world's largest sailing yachts. Royal Huisman is at home with any style and any design: classic, contemporary, or timeless schemes, and combined with dyna-rigs, single mast, wing sails, or a three-masted arrangement to match the owner's wishes.
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The next Royal Huisman super-sized sailing yacht will be a fitting match in the world’s top 10; possibly even becoming the largest in this elite circle. She will join the existing Royal Huisman-built, thoroughbred 'super-sized sail yachts', and, as every Royal Huisman yacht benefits from knowledge gained during previous builds, she would be the finest yet.

Sailing yachts provide the same enjoyment at anchor or at the dock as motoryachts, but are also (much) more fun while travelling from point to point; especially coupled with their ability to reach remote corners of our beautiful planet.

They offer the stimulating experience of seeing sails hoisted to catch the wind, and the slender bow cutting through the waves to pick up speed. Even those who are not keen on heeling angles, will be pleased to discover that new technologies exist to reduce lateral movement and heeling angle substantially.

In addition to the thrill of sailing and the satisfaction of Royal Huisman’s bespoke quality, future owners will also enjoy the green footprint of their yacht and the significant efficiency advantage of free propulsion power when under sail.

Last but not least, the addition of an energy-neutral-mode will prove a much-appreciated feature: spinning the propellers to generate more than sufficient electrical power for all onboard systems such as air conditioning, and recharging the batteries to enjoy silent mode while at anchor.
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For some, these features might sound like uncharted waters that require a lot more development, but not so for the shipyard. Royal Huisman pioneered hybrid propulsion with the game-changing ketch Ethereal (the world’s first hybrid superyacht) in 2009, and has since continued to refine its technological lead in some remarkable projects.

“Sustainability is crucially important for all of us and for future generations. Yacht owners and the yachting sector obviously want to play their part by reducing environmental impact and by limiting the use of valuable natural resources. It is a fact that the level of achievement resulting from these efforts can vary greatly. At Royal Huisman, we know that some owners positively encourage their design and build teams to make a difference by, for example, making their superyachts more efficient, or by applying renewable energy sources," says ​Jan Timmerman, CEO of Royal Huisman: