America's Cup 2021: Several incidents keep Auckland Coastguard busy during racing

Hundreds of boats and superyachts hit the harbour again on Sunday to get the best view of the America's Cup racing action - which ended up being called off.

But several incidents made it a busy day for Auckland's Coastguard, with more than 100 volunteers on board to help.

Boats of all sizes, from tinnies to the most flash launches, streamed into the Waitemata Harbour, but whether they knew it or not, all of the spectators were being supervised.

Police say a lot of people were drinking while out on the water, but behind the boats and booze, there's one serious safety operation underway. 

Extra resources from across the country have come to Auckland just to help for the America's Cup.

On Sunday's list of incidents was a motor breakdown, which had to be towed out of the way of the racecourse.

Thousands of boats were anchored alongside the race boundary and would've had the best seats in the house had racing not been cancelled.

It's been decades since the Waitemata was this crowded.

Boaties have been on their best behaviour, but there have been a few in need of rescuing.

"We've had some medical incidents, someone yesterday, unfortunately, had a heart attack," says John Cowan, Coastguard NZ on-water coordinator.

If you plan on heading out on the harbour for the rest of the racing, Cowan has some tips.

"Lots of sunscreen and enjoy yourselves," he says, adding people may want to wait until they're back onshore to start drinking champagne.

That might be hard advice to heed if Team New Zealand hit the seven points needed to win.