Yacht racing on the Waitemata in the first half of the 20th century was dominated by two yachts, the gaff rigged Ariki of 1904 and the Bermudan rigged Ranger of 1938.

Ariki was built for Charles Horton, scion of the Horton publishing family, before passing through a succession of prominent owners; the Bloomfields, Nathans, Wilsons and Goodfellows.

Ariki was unchallenged and unbeatable (except on handicap) until the summer of 1938 when crane driver Lou Tercel of St. Mary's Bay launched his yacht Ranger. Whilst Ariki retained her Edwardian gaff topsail cutter rig, Ranger incorporated more modern iterations of rig and hull design.

On scratch with Ranger in the RNZYS Macky Cup in January 1938, their first encounter, Ranger got the gun. But in the 1939 Auckland anniversary regatta a fortnight later, the handicappers gave Ariki 4 minutes on Ranger.

The old order had passed. This was not just the crown passing from Ariki to  Ranger (who herself dominated the Waitemata for the next 30 years), but with sailing ceasing to be dominated by the top end of town and becoming the sport available to all New Zealanders, Auckland, as a consequence, became the City of Sails.