America's Cup Yachts Surf New Zealand Gulf At 1.5Mbs

SeaNet provides broadband access to Cup yachts at sea America's Cup syndicates and spectator craft can now get high speed internet access in the Hauraki Gulf thanks to a team up between New Zealand wireless network provider Broadcast Communications Limited and start-up company SeaNet.

According to the article, they can offer 1.5Mbps through cellular coverage in the Gulf. SeaNet is a collaborative project to extend the Internet to ships at sea using a robust, flexible, cost-effective technology; leased to boats for $550 a month plus data charges.
A similar project in the states, is oddly enough called SeaNet as well, and offers "Data Pipes": which the overview page says is capable of transferring large files to shore for processing and back to the ship in the most cost-effective manner. Older Inmarsat (satellite) units transferred data at roughly 9600 bits per second as compared to SeaNet’s newer technology, which operates at 64,000 bits per second (actual throughput may vary).