Even British skipper Ben Ainslie found time to build a Lego model of New Zealand's AC75 with his son.

New Zealand is the current holder of the America's Cup. A British team, led by Ainslie has set out to challenge New Zealand for the "Auld Mug". Ainslie's mission is to "bring home the Cup" for the very first time in the 173 year history.

In an Instagram post, Ainslie’s wife Georgie posted a picture of her husband and son stumbling over the Lego Technic model of the Kiwi boat. The actual AC75 had been kept secret.

It didn't last long. They are already trying to discover some Kiwi secrets while building their Lego boat. Why don't you have a Lego Boat @benainslie? She said it in a post last week.

Others British supporters responded by asking Lego to create a model of Britannia.

Several members from another America's Cup Team, who did not reach the final, have said that they bought the Lego set, which can be purchased in Barcelona in the official shops, where the Kiwis are leading Britain by 4-2 in the series of first-to-7.

One person said that they spent eight hours building the New Zealand boat with its many intricate features, including the monohull. The boat is available for sale at 140 euros ($152) and includes the high-tech foils.

FAN ENGAGEMENT

Simon Munro who runs six America's Cup merchandise stores and its online shop said that his company has sold "a few thousands" of these kits, in addition to the Lego kits themselves.

Munro said that Team New Zealand said the day they posted it online it was "one of the best posts they have ever done" in terms of fan engagement.

Munro stated that the development of the set took 18 months from the time the merchandise group began to talk to Lego until the release, and it involved meetings between designers in the team and Lego.

The Danish company refused to comment on how many AC75 sets they had sold or where the majority of sales were made. They also declined to say if they had been asked to produce a British version.

Munro also said that he had constructed the model which is aimed at adults. He added: "I went to the team base and told them 'it took me six-hours', and they replied 'ahh, the record's four'."

Munro said, "I believe that was Dan Bernasconi. He has some insight." Munro is New Zealand's Technical Director and one of the designers for their AC75 "Taihoro".

"I'd definitely recommend it to any team, because it's obviously good advertising... The problem is that could you convince Lego if the boat stayed the same to do another?" He added.

(source: Reuters)