More people expected to get into sailing following America's Cup

There could be a surge in people joining yacht clubs around New Zealand this year following the 35th America's Cup, whether or not New Zealand takes the win. Photo / Emirates Team NZ

Rob Hielkema was still in school when New Zealand won the America's Cup in 1995, but he remembers the effect the win had.

Not only did all his friends want to come out yachting with him straight away, but property prices on the North Shore skyrocketed, he said.

A win this year would be a boost for New Zealand's economy, he predicted. House prices would go up, supermarkets would flourish, millionaires would bring their families over to live here.

"We also get people getting really excited about boating, just getting involved in being on the on the water in general."

They could expect to see a surge in people joining yacht clubs around the country this year, whether or not New Zealand took the win.

Hielkema, a sailing coach in the Bay of Islands and a contractor for Yachting NZ, said every time the America's Cup was held, yacht clubs would see a surge in people joining, though he didn't expect the memberships to start coming in until about September.

He said sailing was a "tick the box sort of sport" and people were keen to give it a try, and would often be prompted to sign up when America's Cup rolled around.

He thought clubs were seeing a rough 25 per cent increase on numbers of enrolments into sailing lessons, a number which they would see after each cup.

However, those numbers wouldn't start showing until September, when they had their first intake in sailing lessons.

Hielkema didn't expect that percentage to be any higher if New Zealand won, but said it would be "a bit more hyped up".

"I think people would just be a bit more excited."

He said this year's competition could have an interesting effect on yacht clubs.

"I think it's going to be really interesting for the yacht clubs themselves. This America's Cup has really changed sailing, the way they're racing is quite different to the way it's traditionally done."

He expected to see clubs modifying the sport to make it more interactive, faster, and more fun for young people joining.

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron general manager Hayden Porter said he hadn't seen a huge upswing in people enquiring about and joining their club around America's Cup time, but had seen a general upswing over the last few years.

"With the Olympics sailing team doing so well it's always sort of in the spotlight," Porter said.

"There's certainly a lot of new boats coming into New Zealand as well."

He expected a bigger surge of new sailors if New Zealand won the cup.

"[If] Team New Zealand are successful then it's a dramatic upswing throughout all clubs around New Zealand."

Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club manager Jason Reid expected to see a bit more interest from people once New Zealand made the finals.

"In terms of people joining, that's when the season starts. Though you might get a bit of interest now, people don't generally join until September, October, November, or even later than that."