America's Cup: THE AFTERMATH

Never fear, there was a New Zealand winner at Valencia - and it was homegrown in Whangarei.
The stylish canopy that topped Team NZ's observation deck at its Valencia base was designed and manufactured by Lower Dent St's Fabric Shelter Systems, which has won a national industry award for the project.
Showing off is definitely not the firm's style, but it could claim to have made the biggest single Whangarei contribution to the America's Cup campaign because it didn't charge for the work. Fabric supplier QCD Ltd of Auckland matched their generosity by not charging for the material (extra-block sail-cloth).
The award was announced at the 2007 awards of the Outdoor Fabrics Products Association of New Zealand in Christchurch last weekend. The firm also won the top awards for the inflatable and innovation categories (the big red Vodafone Warriors One Tribe clubrooms at Mt Smart stadium and the huge canopy over the harbourside Sydney Wildlife World respectively).
The shade fabric of the double-coned canopy was supported by two central poles and tensioned to perimeter fixing points. Team NZ ordered the canopy three months ago and well-known Whangarei yachtsman Jack Lloyd (who is on Team NZ's rules committee) supervised construction in Valencia.