Emirates Team New Zealand won the Auld Mug against the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team yesterday, with a lead of 7-3. Photo / Getty Images
Emirates Team New Zealand won the Auld Mug against the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team yesterday, with a lead of 7-3. Photo / Getty Images
New Zealanders have shown their support for Team New Zealand in record numbers this week.
According to Nielson ratings, last night's victory in the Prada America's Cup was watched by 1,395,100 people on TVNZ, while 181,475 streamed the coverage online.
The final night of racing saw Team New Zealand ina commanding position, they looked headed for a victory over Italy's Luna Rossa team, and New Zealand was on the edge of its collective seat. Luna Rossa won six out of 10 starts, but the brute speed of the New Zealand vessel, Te Rehutai, was too much for the Italians in the end.
Team New Zealand claimed the Auld Mug for a fourth time yesterday - 26 years after their maiden triumph - by winning race 10 against Luna Rossa by 46 seconds, taking them to an unbeatable 7-3 lead in the best-of-13 final series.
TVNZ's director of content, Cate Slater, said that the staggering viewer figures show "just how much this event has resonated with Aotearoa".
It wasn't just yesterday's final that turned huge numbers of New Zealanders' attention to the water. Throughout the regatta, which includes the Christmas Cup, the Prada Cup and the America's Cup, a total of 2,674,6000 people tuned in to watch the action at some point.
More than 1.4 million Kiwis joined Glenn Ashby and all of Emirates Team New Zealand in celebrating their historic win against Luna Rossa yesterday. Photo / Getty Images
Last night's final drew the most viewers of all of the races, with more New Zealander's simultaneously watching TVNZ's on-demand stream than the online platform has ever seen before.
A key part of the TVNZ sailing commentary team, Peter Lester, reflected on the "magnificent experience".
"Our sailors, led by Peter Burling, showed a phenomenal display of expertise and tenacity to seal the win," said Lester. "To see so many New Zealander's watching on TV and OnDemand as well as on and around the harbour, proves what a fantastic spectator event the America's Cup is."
