The New Zealand Sailing Trust is an Auckland-based charitable trust that operates two of the country's best-known ocean racing yachts, Steinlager 2 and Lion New Zealand. Both were sailed by Sir Peter Blake and his crews in round-the-world racing, and the trust now runs them as working sail-training vessels out of Auckland, sailing the Hauraki Gulf and beyond.
### What it does
The trust's core purpose is youth development. It runs education and youth voyages of one to five days, holiday programmes for young people, and leadership programmes built around teamwork, courage and environmental awareness — the yachts described as living classrooms rather than museum pieces. Proceeds from commercial charters are reinvested into those youth programmes, so corporate bookings directly fund the trust's charitable work.
### Charters, groups and corporate work
Both vessels are available for charter by businesses, clubs, schools and community groups. The trust markets corporate charters explicitly for team building, leadership development and business incentives, and the format is hands-on: guests are put to work sailing the boat rather than sitting as passengers. That structure is what makes it useful as a development exercise — winching, sail handling and crew coordination on a maxi yacht require communication, trust and role clarity from people who mostly have no sailing background.
Charter options range from short harbour and Gulf day sails through to multi-day Hauraki Gulf voyages with overnight accommodation aboard. The trust states a maximum of 20 passengers on corporate charters and 24 on youth voyages, with a minimum of 14 passengers per trip. Both yachts can be booked, which extends the workable group size for a company splitting a team across two boats — a format that also lends itself to inter-team competition on the water. Private charters and Friday afternoon racing are also offered.
The trust is listed as a non-commercial maritime member of Yachting New Zealand.
### Suitability for MICE
This is a strong fit for incentive groups and leadership retreats in Auckland that want an activity with genuine substance and a story attached. The Blake connection gives the experience a heritage dimension that resonates with both domestic and inbound groups, and the charitable structure means the spend has a defensible social return. The minimum-14 threshold suits team-sized bookings rather than couples or very small parties, and multi-day voyages work as a self-contained offsite. Weather affects sailing itineraries, so allow flexibility in the programme.
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