The police had a big job ahead policing the America's Cup. They had to keep spectators safe, deal with incidents on the water, and carry out rescues if needed. They talked to police in both San Diego, USA, and Freemantle, Western Australia, (site of the last two cup events) to find out what would be needed.

They expected that there would be far more spectators at the Auckland even (because so many Aucklanders have boats). The problem was, Auckland had fewer enforcement craft than either of the previous hosts to the Americas Cup.Police experience of other big events such as the Whitbread Yacht race allowed them to make an educated guess at the number of enforcement boats needed.

Police needed new vessels to do the job. They are likely to have to deal with just about every sort of weather the Hauraki Gulf is capable of producing, including the tail end of the hurricanes that sweep along the east coast of New Zealand over the Christmas period.