The America's Cup has been officially opened, with a glamorous and at times comically over-the-top ceremony at the event village in San Francisco today.
The two-hour ceremony, which coincided with the city's July Fourth celebrations, included cultural demonstrations from the countries of all four teams taking part, with Maori cultural group Te Waka Huia proving the crowd pleaser as they introduced Team New Zealand.
The ceremony also included a moving video tribute to Artemis sailor and British Olympian Andrew Simpson, who died on San Francisco Bay two months ago in a training accident.
With the Swedish team still coming to grips with the tragedy the emotion of the occasion was evident, with of the crew reduced to tears, while others put their arms around one another.
Later on stage, Artemis skipper Iain Percy, a close friend of Simpson, thanked the crowd for their support.