Our dreams came true on that great sound 14,000 kilometres away five days ago.
The Moet has been emptied, the Louis Vuitton bags hurled, the winners' grins captured for posterity and, come Thursday, the America's Cup and the team who won it will be welcomed home with a celebration on land and sea.
And then?
A helluva lot of planning.
The 36th America's Cup is almost certain to take place in Auckland in 2021 - the city's nickname might best grow to be the City of Sails and Opportunities.
A giant red sock sculpture, a park extending into the harbour, finally farewelling the Ports of Auckland and opening those red gates, transport, transport and more, better transport, are all being dreamed up.
What the extent of those opportunities will be is open to debate, but for many, thoughts have already turned to what the future holds for the Cup and the city that will host it.
Is the next four years about making sure Auckland can simply host the Cup, or is it about ensuring the city can also capitalise on the opportunities it brings - immediate and long-term.
Will a better city come from the triumph in Bermuda?
Mitchell and Stout Architects director Julie Stout certainly hopes so. The America's Cup is a chance to "get things happening", she says.
And by "things" the chairwoman of Urban Auckland, a lobby group for the protection of the city's waterfront and broader environment, doesn't necessarily mean the giant red sock included on an artist's impression put together by her own practice for the potential redevelopment of the central Viaduct basin.
The sock - a nod to the charmed red socks worn by the late Sir Peter Blake when Team New Zealand first wrested the Auld Mug from the United States 22 years ago - is just a bit of fun.
But switching car parks for footpaths, green spaces and "real trees growing in the ground" on the eastern side of the pedestrian drawbridge is what can really make a difference.
"[It's about saying] look, this is a people place here."
Urban Auckland has made no secret of its desire for the Ports of Auckland to disappear from the central city, from their imported cars rolling out on to Captain Cook Wharf to the rows of shipping containers lining the easternmost borders of the port at Judges Bay - and nothing has changed, Stout says.
The future of the Auckland Council-owned port, which occupies 77 hectares of prime waterfront land, has been a pressure point between those who see it as a barrier to the city's connection with its harbour and the Port Future Study, which found moving it to a new "super port" in Manukau Harbour or the Firth of Thames would come with a price tag of up to $5.5b.
However, the study also found a new site was needed, and Auckland mayor Phil Goff has pledged to address the port's long-term future this term.
Stout knows the Cup will turn up the heat up on the long-term future of the city's waterfront, and that's a good thing.
"Over the next 50 to 100 years these events are going to happen more and more ... where are the next pieces of the puzzle going to be filled in?"
It's not like we haven't been here before.
Large-scale events such as the Rugby World Cup in 2011 have proven a catalyst and opportunity to create big infrastructure projects, such as the $240m upgrade of Eden Park.
The Whitbread round the world yacht race in the early 90s sparked the then-Auckland Harbour Board's first development of the Viaduct, which until then was dominated by fishing boats rather than fun-seekers.
By late in the decade the board had sold the area to a group of private investors, Viaduct Harbour Holdings, prompting the most dramatic developments - apartments, hotels, bars and restaurants - and altering the whole face of the area.
Change is ever-present.
In the Viaduct, where crowds gathered en masse during the 2000 and 2003 Cup defences and again during the Rugby World Cup, celebrity chef Simon Gault is opening a new restaurant, Giraffe, and Ponsonby's Mea Culpa is planning a rooftop cocktail bar.
The Wynyard Quarter area is already undergoing massive changes as part of a billion-dollar urban regeneration project that already includes the new ASB Waterfront Theatre, the $200m Park Hyatt, under construction, and hundreds of new apartments due to be completed next year.
Build Media creative director Gareth Ross dreams of Aucklanders looking out to the Waitemata Harbour from a Captain Cook Wharf free of imported cars.
The finger wharf could either host cup syndicates or complement the existing social hubs at neighbouring Queens Wharf, home of Shed 10 and The Cloud, or at the Viaduct, 500m to the west.
"We've got to use this an opportunity to improve our waterfront area."
Yes, we have The Cloud rippling down the wharf, but it feels temporary, he says.
"It doesn't feel like a destination. It would be lovely to see lawn or grass down there and steps down to the water. That should be where we put our focus.
"It should be the jewel of our city, but it's not quite there."
When the challengers - with their vast crews and armies of supporters - roll into town there will certainly be money to be made.
Leading businessman Sir Ralph Norris told the Herald this week the economic bonanza for New Zealand could top $1b and New Zealand Marine Industry Association chief executive Peter Busfield said $500m would be injected into their industry.
The last time New Zealand hosted the Cup, in 2003, more than $500m was pumped back into the economy.
Degree Gastrobar owner John Hellebrekers remembers both the 2000 and 2003 events.
Business was humming, with increased demand from two years out as syndicate staff and families began arriving.
He's looking forward to a repeat, not only in the increased patronage, but also in the joy the event brought - especially if Team New Zealand repeats its successful 2000 defence.
"It was just this sea of people partying through the bars on the wharf. It was the first time I'd ever seen us, as a nation, be so emotional in how we partied."
Down the road on Quay St, a blood red wrought iron fence stands in the way of the dreams of Graham Wall Real Estate owner Graham Wall.
He just wants to feel the grass under his feet as he looks out into the Waitemata Harbour.
He and his family, including son Ollie, asked architect friend Luke Leuschke for a concept drawing to be produced showing a park which could be sited on Queens or Captain Cook wharf - and for the park, which would also include steps to the water, to be named for Team New Zealand's principal Matteo DeNora.