Hard to argue with the success of this series: I watched the iShares Kiel (Germany) event recap on Sunsports TV last week (30 minutes long!), and they were reporting something like 60,000-80,000 on-shore spectators.....and here is a quote from the Ishares cup website regarding the Amsterdam event:
" The best breeze of the day filled in for the final three races today producing some extreme racing - close calls, collisions, penalties and a final double-points race decider - keeping the 10,000 strong crowd entertained on the IJ-Haven."