Team New Zealand has just four days to prepare for the America's Cup final, after beating its challenger rival Artemis today.
The America's Cup organisers tweeted images of Team NZ's celebrations. Photo: @americascup / ACEA
After a couple of hours of frustration because of a lack of wind, Team New Zealand managed to comfortably beat the Swedish team and take the challenger final series 5-2.
The New Zealanders dominated the race, winning by 56 seconds.
Peter Burling on challenger win #AmericasCup2017 @rnz_news pic.twitter.com/w9P9X2o5Or
— Todd Niall (@toddniall) June 12, 2017
There were celebrations aboard the New Zealand catamaran after they crossed the line nearly a minute ahead of their opponents.
Helmsman Peter Burling said the boat was going seriously fast, and the team felt they were in great shape to take on Oracle.
Look back at RNZ's live coverage with Todd Niall: as it happened
In Auckland, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron hosted a breakfast of nearly 200 members to watch the race. General manager Hayden Porter told Morning Report Team New Zealand had a huge amount of "Kiwi number eight wire mentality".
"It's been exceptionally hard for them, on all sorts of fronts, but we've just got outstanding sailors, and absolutely outstanding design team, and of course the management at Team New Zealand are first-rate.
"They've been here before, they've learned along the way and they're not afraid of adversity.
"In a typical Kiwi way they just push through and get things done."
The America's Cup series between Team New Zealand and holders Oracle Team USA starts on Sunday.
Racing was delayed today because of a lack of wind, with race seven abandoned when the time limit expired.
Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Peter Burling, racing in the challenger playoff finals. Photo: AFP
