America's Cup 2021: Families of Team New Zealand happy to see crew members again after hard slog to win

The families of Team New Zealand say they're happy to finally see the crew members after months of hard slog and focus on winning the America's Cup.

Their 7-3 triumph over Luna Rossa saw the Kiwis retain the America's Cup won at Bermuda in 2017, ensuring the Auld Mug stays on Kiwi shores for now.

After the award ceremony and into the night, the team shared their victory party with Luna Rossa.

"The guys from Luna Rossa came over for a while, and just a lot of the other volunteers and race directors," Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling says.

"There's so many people involved to make one of these events happen and it was pretty great to let the hair down a little bit."

But with the regatta over, families are now excited to have their Team NZ families back after their win.

"You've seen it, the team and the families and the little kids whose dads have worked on the boat, and all these little kids and mums who have sacrificed so much - it means such a lot to such a huge number of people. It's really cool," says Heather Burling, Peter Burling's mum.

America's Cup 2021: Families of Team New Zealand happy to see crew members again after hard slog to win
Photo credit: Getty Images

The family of Dan Bernasconi, Team NZ's head of design, were proud to share his winnings with the country.

"It's great for Lucy, my little girl, to understand what it is that I do and to see the excitement around it," Bernasconi says.

The fans crammed into the Viaduct, with mums, brothers, sisters, and aunties in the front row.  

Tens of thousands of people were in the Viaduct, so much so that by 5pm on Wednesday officials said no more people were allowed in the race village. 

"It's purely if you had to evacuate for whatever reason - how many people can you safely have there?" Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says. "There was some spare space there but they had to have spare space for health and safety reasons."

Because while it looked like the world had come to town, shut borders meant the crowd was mainly Kiwis.