She sailed against both Peter Burling and Blair Tuke and represented New Zealand at the 420s World Championships twice.
She and fellow promoter Buhtsarakum Khunpet, 20, were looking forward to seeing them today.
"It's quite amazing to see them today, and everything they have achieved," Houng-Lee said.
"But they were always pretty talented."
Owner of the nearby Degree bar, John Hellebrekers, said the last two weeks had been extremely busy.
He has been working at Degree since 1998 so was around for the 2000 Team NZ defence and the 2003 contest held in Auckland.
He said today was a similar vibe for the last two events.
"It feels like people just want to celebrate. It's got a good feeling."
He was expecting to be busy all afternoon.
"You get the feeling a few people have taken the afternoon off work and are planning to celebrate so it should be a good combination between Kiwis celebrating and Lions supporters in town."
Two of Degree's punters, Julie and Shaun, were lucky to find a prime vantage point in the form of a table at the Viaduct bar.
They had taken the 9am ferry from their home in Maraetai, east Auckland.
"We wandered around, looked for the best spot and found this," Julie said.
She and her husband took days off work.
Sean said: "We will be here for a while, see what happens."
Soul bar manager George said: "We're all geared up for a huge day. We love days like this. We've been booked out all week and we've still got a little bit of room for all those regulars and a few customers.
"I'd imagine everybody's going to be trying to get on the terrace today because we've got the best view of the boat when it gets loaded by the team."
He said he was expecting the salt and pepper squid to sell out. It was the most popular dish on the menu.
