Team New Zealand Gains Possession Of America’s Cup

Cheered on by Kiwi bleacher bums, Team New Zealand formally received the America’s Cup. It was only the second time in 144 years sailing’s top prize has left American hands.

The outdoor ceremony at the San Diego Yacht Club was anticlimactic after Saturday’s scene, when delirious Kiwi sailors soaked each other with champagne and drank from the sterling silver trophy after sweeping rival Dennis Conner 5-0.

Before surrendering the America’s Cup on a brilliant afternoon, yacht club commodore Michael Morton gave the 16 New Zealand sailors on stage a 6-liter bottle of champagne.

“This is to drink, not to shoot,” he said.

After a champagne toast, Morton handed the America’s Cup to Peter Hay, commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron that backed Team New Zealand.

Winning the America’s Cup “means everything to me,” said Peter Blake, Team New Zealand’s boss and a crew member aboard victorious Black Magic 1. “You think of this trophy as almost 150 years old, and it’s only been taken away twice in that time. That makes it pretty special.”