After a campaign four years in the making, Emirates Team NZ can finally let their hair down.
Their 7-3 triumph over a spirited Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli saw the Kiwis retain the America's Cup won at Bermuda in 2017, ensuring the 'Auld Mug' stays on Kiwi shores - for now.
With celebrations raging through the night and into Thursday, helmsman Peter Burling reveals Team NZ celebrated in style.
"When these events finish, you actually realise how tired you are," he tells Newshub.
"I was pretty tired last night, but it was pretty incredible to be able to share some pretty cool memories, and celebrate with some good friends and family, and also a lot of teammates, who've worked incredibly hard to get this team to the point where it is today.
"There are so many people involved to make one of these events happen, and it was pretty great to let their hair down a little bit and enjoy catching up with everyone."
Team NZ weren't celebrating alone either, with their Luna Rossa rivals joining the festivities.
"We spent most of our time here at base, actually," Burling continues. "It was great to be able to get nearly everyone in this team down, a lot of friends and family, the guys from Luna Rossa came over for a while, a lot of the other volunteers and race directors…”
Burling also thanked the legions of Kiwi fans, who turned out in their droves to paint Auckland's viaduct red in celebration.
"There's probably 150 people in this team, but yesterday really felt like we had a whole team of five million cheering us on.
"All in all, [it was] a pretty amazing event. To see so many Kiwis out there, supporting the event, getting out on boats, getting to vantage points on land… the support we got blew us away as a team.
“We really appreciate it."
