Boys make DIY floating picnic table with outboard motor on Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour to watch SailGP

The Herald has approached the Harbourmaster for comment.

Ally Ford was on the harbour with her husband and his friend watching the SailGP when they spied the boys slowly motoring from Bayswater Marina.

She told the Herald they were confused when they first saw the boys and their craft.

“We had binoculars on our boat to see what was going on for the race. But we turned around and saw seven guys just floating half in the water, half out, drinking beers.

“As they got closer, they just moored up right behind us.

“We didn’t know what to think of it, to be fair.

“We went for the races and came home with a story.”

Ford said their vessel appeared quite sturdy. The boys were standing up on the table so they could see the action.

She said she missed the races on Saturday, the day with the best weather, but had they attended then instead of Sunday they would have missed the surprise sailing.

“It was very, very choppy. I’m impressed that they stayed buoyant with the chop,” Ford said.

“We were overall very impressed with the thought process and execution. It took them quite a long time to get back [to shore] though.”

Ford told the group she intended to tell their escapades to the Herald, at which she said they got excited.

She hoped the group would go public about their creation, saying she wanted someone to take credit for the “genius”.

Ford said the day on the harbour was “good, it was nice, a bit guttering about New Zealand, but Aussie deserved it, to be fair”.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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