The popular America's Cup syndicate Mascalzone Latino have further endeared themselves to New Zealanders by donating all their team food to charity.
The Italians, affectionately known as the Latin Rascals, were the first team eliminated from the Louis Vuitton Cup this month. Their early departure meant therewas a lot of food left over - about 20 large pallets of long-life food such as cereal, tuna and biscuits.
Team manager Paolo Scutellaro decided it would not be practical to take the food back to Italy, so the decision was made to donate it to charity.
The charity chosen was the South Auckland children's hospital Kidz First.
Spokeswoman Pam Tregonning said community teams would distribute the food to families and children in need. It would also go to schools in South Auckland to provide breakfast for children who otherwise would not have any.
Pam Tregonning said it was a huge amount of food - in fact the biggest donation of food they have received.
"It is absolutely wonderful to be able to hand out food to families, especially at this time of year. And if we can give kids good healthy food, of course it benefits us as well."
Daria Scutellaro, the wife of the Mascalzone team manager, said the food would have been used in the team's restaurant, where team members and their families ate.
She said there was all sorts of food in the pallets, including fruit juice, cakes, chocolate and Nutella.
There was also a lot of parmesan cheese because it had only just been released from quarantine when the team were eliminated.
The Scutellaros are heading back to Italy on Sunday, but hope to be back for the next cup.
