Royal visit: William and Kate in Auckland

The Duke nd Duchess of Cambridge. Photo: Twitter/@GovGeneralNZ

It was time for Auckland to shine (despite the rain) on the Royal Tour as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited our city.

After a visit to Whenuapai Air Base William and Kate headed to Wynyard Quarter for a public drive along Beaumont St and Jellicoe St to the Team NZ headquarters.

For the hundreds of people lining the route the brisk drive by was over too soon.

The Royal couple stopped outside Emirate TeamNZ headquarters to chat with members of the crowd.

A brief downpour didn't dampen the enthusiasm of thousands who lined the waterfront hoping to get a glimpse of the couple as they headed out into the Waitemata Harbour on separate America's Cup yachts.

The Duke and Duchess raced against each other in three match races, with the crew made up of Emirates Team New Zealand members and six of our best youth sailors. Grant Dalton will be accompanying the Royal couple.

After an initial warm-up race, the Duchess, sailing with dean Barker, won the next two races.

The boats arrived back at the viaduct just before 3pm, this time in sunshine.

Crowds had thinned but still lined the barricades, most holding up phones and cameras.

Kate was first in, beaming and chatting with her crew. The Duke and Duchess will now make their way to Westpark Marina via a Sealegs craft.

Here's a snapshot of the latest tweets about the visit:

Tweets about "#RoyalVisitNZ"