Dad and I joined one of the America's Cup Yachts for an afternoon's sail on Auckland Harbour last week.

We had pretty perfect sailing conditions, and the boat raced along on quite a lean. Auckland Harbour was looking at its best...and it felt like we were on the boat that everyone was regarding with envy.

We sailed on NZL40 - one of two boats kept in the Viaduct marina. We don't think it actually competed in 1995 but it was built for the French entry into the America's Cup. The America’s Cup is the world’s oldest and most prestigious sporting trophy and ultimate yachting regatta...and New Zealanders are fairly keen to win it...as you'll probably have gathered from their upset when the Swiss entry Alinghi won last year. Fancy that... a nation without access to the sea winning!

Our boat would normally have had a racing crew of 17 - but today it had a team of 4 in charge, with passengers becoming the crew. Dad got right into some crewing, trimming the sails using the grinders (this you do in a pair, cranking away in sync).

We both had a go on the helm - and our verdict was that, yes, it was a super yacht and would clearly whip up a storm on the high seas.