Those commuting to work over the Tauranga Harbour Bridge this week may have been lucky enough to spot NOMAD IV sitting proud at the Tauranga Bridge Marina.

NOMAD IV is a custom built luxury sailing boat first launched in 2013.

The super yacht has one of the largest master suites in its range and with a professional racing rig, and is said to be one of the fastest sailing yachts in the world.

NOMAD IV, which is originally from Malta, left Europe nearly two years ago.

Co-captain Phillip De Lamare was hired when the owner began planning an around the world tour.

New Zealand was marked as the half way point of the voyage, but with the beginning of Covid-19, the original plans had to be changed.

'We arrived in New Zealand in mid-January,” says Phillip.

'We had planned a long time ago that once we made it here to New Zealand we would do plenty of physical jobs to get the boat completely reset.

'For Covid reasons we had to arrive in Opua as there was no other way to enter the country, and from there we sailed to Auckland Bay to see a sailing race.”

NOMAD IV arrived in Tauranga in February, after hearing great reviews about Tauranga business Super Yacht Coatings.

'We came to New Zealand for a complete boat reset but we came to Tauranga because we wanted them to paint the boat.

'We were originally going to Brisbane, but they convinced me and they are known worldwide,” says Phillip.

'They were absolutely great, and I am so happy for the way they took care of NOMAD.”

The yacht has recently been put back into the water, and Phillip is now preparing for a crossing to Tahiti before starting the journey to France.

'Right now, I'm the only one left on the boat as the rest of the crew has gone home.

'Our cook only flew back to France this week, and I've just hired a complete Kiwi crew to help sail the boat to Tahiti,” says Phillip.

'The trip to Tahiti will take 8 to 10 days where we will meet the owner who is coming to enjoy his boat with his family.

'Then it will take 2 to 3 months to sail the boat from Tahiti to Panama and then on to France,” he says.

'We decided to stop the around the world tour because of Covid and so we're going back to France quickly.”