Peter Burling is looking forward to "a pretty cool few weeks" sharing his America's Cup win with the rest of New Zealand after celebrating the conclusion of a gruelling campaign with his opponent Jimmy Spithill in Bermuda.
The 26-year-old calmly steered his way into yachting history, demolishing Spithill's Oracle Team USA to win the Auld Mug.
"It was our goal and dream to come here and win the America's Cup and to have it sitting there and have it in the morning meeting when we all got together after a bit of recovery from last night, we're just blown away," Burling said.
Burling, an Olympic gold and silver medallist, was helmsman on Emirates Team New Zealand and the face of the crew during the campaign to wrest the Auld Mug from its US holders.
The celebrations following the win in the New Zealand team's shed where they have kept their space-age 50-foot catamaran and wing sail were "pretty low key," with the crew only realising how drained they were once the adrenaline wore off.
"We finally realised how tired we were and how most of us didn't really have that much energy to carry on," Burling said.
Burling said the losing US team, led by his good friend Spithill, had joined the New Zealanders in their celebration.
"They came over and said congrats last night and we invited them in. It was pretty cool to be able to share it with them."
A beaming Burling, with the normally closely-guarded silver trophy standing behind him, said it was "impossible to compare" the victory with the gold medal he and fellow crew member Blair Tuke won in Rio de Janeiro last year in the 49er skiff class.
"To be able to lift that and bring it home to New Zealand, it's going to be a pretty cool few weeks sharing it with all our fans and friends and family back home," he said.
"We're really proud of what we have managed to achieve as a group."
