'Foreign' socks sell well

By CHRIS DANIELS

Team New Zealand are reporting good sales of their Korean-made "lucky red socks" despite calls for a boycott.

The Green Party urged people in December to avoid buying the foreign socks, as a show of support for local manufacturers.

But red socks project coordinator Sally Tye said about 250,000 pairs had been sold to stores around the country.

Retailers had paid for them and did not get refunds for unsold socks.

"Retailers have reported them selling steadily," Sally Tye said.

Interest was expected to pick up once the challenger to meet Team New Zealand had been decided.

Team New Zealand spokeswoman Melanie Jones said she understood that about half the socks sent out to retailers had been sold.

Team New Zealand would use funds raised by the sale of the socks to build a mast for their yacht. The team hoped to raise at least $600,000 from the campaign.

Bruce Parrant, a Levin sock-maker, has sold about 2000 of his New Zealand-made red socks, which are not supported by Team New Zealand.

He had wanted to make a lot more but large retailers would not stock them.

Mr Parrant said he was ready to come to Auckland and present the money raised from the sale of his socks to Team New Zealand.

His socks sell for $7.95, compared with $9.99 for the Korean socks.

Meanwhile, Television New Zealand reports a steady increase in the number of people watching the racing.

Ratings peaked on Sunday when more than 500,000 people watched the fourth race of the Louis Vuitton Cup finals.

Weekend watching was significantly up on weekday viewing, which attracted about 210,000 viewers on Wednesday and 175,000 on Thursday.