Emirates Team New Zealand has made sailing history by winning its third consecutive America’s Cup, dominating challenger INEOS Britannia at the competition in Barcelona, Spain.
The Kiwi team, skippered by Peter Burling, won race nine this morning by 37 seconds to take the series by seven wins to two.
After both teams made a fast tow back to the Port Vell, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei again greeted the arrival of ‘Taihoro’ at the dock.
Stepping ashore, Burling reflected on the result, saying: “It’s a pretty surreal feeling, it’s still definitely sinking in.
“In the America’s Cup you’re all ready for a long battle but to be able to get it done today in just beautiful sailing conditions with a little bit of shift in it and just so many people cheering us on, was amazing.”
Burling said he’s incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished.
“The America’s Cup has got to be one of the hardest sporting trophies in the world to win.
“You’ve got to have so many parts come together to make it all work and now having done that three times in a row, it’s incredibly special.”
He added a mention to INEOS Britannia skipper Sir Ben Ainslie and his team saying: “All credit to Ben and INEOS Britannia, I think they put together an incredible challenge.
“They pushed us the whole way, obviously we got a good jump on the leaderboard, but every race felt like a real battle and they were amazing challengers.”
Kevin Shoebridge, chief operating officer for Emirates Team New Zealand, saw it as a team effort all round.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “I’m just so thrilled it played out like it did today.
“It’s been a tough couple of months, today made it all worth it. It has been a fantastic team effort from day one and I think that was shown in the way we performed today.”
A disappointed Ainslie said: “Mixed emotions of course. First of all, I’ve got to say credit to Emirates Team New Zealand.
“An amazing achievement for that organisation and for our team to get into the America’s Cup itself was a huge achievement and we’ve been on quite a journey for the last 10 years, and especially the last three years.”
Emirates Team New Zealand officially accepted the America’s Cup trophy at the main stage of the Race Village early this morning NZ time.
The future of the event will be announced in “due course,” according to Grant Dalton, chief executive of America’s Cup Event and Emirates Team New Zealand.
The tradition is for a challenge to be issued as soon as the winning boat crosses the finish line of the last race.
