An exotic visitor to Pilot Bay this week is the superyacht Georgia.

It has been at anchor while her owner and guests have been visiting the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua's geothermal sites.

Georgia photographed at anchor in Pilot Bay.

Georgia was built by Alloy Yachts in Auckland, launched in 2000, and has since been on charter, mostly in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. She is Cayman Islands registered.

Georgia has been withdrawn from charter, with the owner spending more time onboard. While her movements on the New Zealand coast are unknown, Georgia is a confirmed entry in the superyacht regatta, The Millenium Cup, held in Auckland on February 15-18.

Georgia is 48 metres long and was conceived as the as the ultimate family world cruiser.

At the time of her launch Georgia was the world's largest sloop.

She won the Showboats 2000 award as the most innovative sailing yacht as well as the best sailing yacht over 38 metres. She has a top speed in excess of 35 knots.

Georgia has a crew of about seven and room for 12 guests.

There are four guest cabins, and a full width master suite.

The yacht has a gymnasium onboard and a collection of tenders and water toys including two Zuma sailing dinghies, windsurfers, dive gear enough for six guests and donuts, trampolines and bananas as well as a six metre kevlar hull HB1.

Georgia's flybridge has direct access from the bridge and features port and starboard helm stations, aft seating, capacious sun pads and a Jacuzzi.

An aft stairway from the flybridge to the aft deck leads to the air-conditioned alfresco dining/seating area.

Lying forward is the formal main salon to port which has a large flat-screen TV and a bar/seating area to starboard.

The wood used in the interior is American Cherry.

Onboard systems include a computer controlled system by Intelect Integrated Electronics which handles the nine satellite TV tuners, two 20” LED screens, 1000 cd and 300 hour digital movie library stored on a driver, navigational displays and pictures from underway as well as security and masthead cameras.

A total of 52 B&W speakers, including 16 deck speakers and two complete Dolby Digital Surround Sound systems reproduce the highest quality sound and are controlled from Crestron wireless touch screens positioned in every compartment.

The touch screens also help control other onboard functions such as lighting, curtains and blinds.

There are provisions onboard for incoming calls of any kind, including faxes, while onboard gear includes three PC stations and a printer, fax and scanner located on the bridge.

Georgia was accompanied in port by the 25m game fishing boat Lady Colombo, which was involved in the rescue of fishermen from the Rebecca May on Tuesday.

The Lady Colombo follows Georgia around because she picks up a lot of game fishing hires from the Georgia's guests.

See photos of Georgia's interior here.