Scores of new and old Hawke's Bay sailing fans turned up at the Napier Sailing Club to watch Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa share the honours with one win each after the first day of racing in the 2021 America's Cup on Wednesday.
Club member Paul Redman, who is travelling to Auckland on Thursday to watch the rest of the racing in person, said there were about 150 people watching the first race, which started at 4.15 pm.
He said they cheered Team New Zealand's strong start loudly, and it was quite neat that a lot of the fans present weren't necessarily club members either.
"The club was just pleased that we were asked to be a fan base, we've got the big screen going and it's brought quite a lot of people into the club that we don't really see here, but they've just come to be part of it," Redman said.
Team New Zealand shot to an early lead over Luna Rossa in Race One, and coasted to an eventual 31-second win off the coast of Waiheke Island in Auckland.
