Team NZ will take on the British syndicate BAR Racing in this week's Louis Vuitton America's Cup challenger playoffs.
And their decision, announced at today's post-race press conference in Bermuda, leaves Dean Barker and Team Japan to face in-form Artemis Racing (Sweden) in the other semi-final, starting Monday [NZT].
The Kiwi crew lost their final round-robin match against cup defenders Oracle Team USA on Sunday, gifting a bonus point to the Americans in the process, but they had already secured top spot in the qualifiers - giving them the right to select who the race.
"We believe with the forecast over the coming week, that's our best chance of progressing through," said helmsman Peter Burling.
"We're really happy that we've made it through this first round and we've got to this stage. Today was obviously a pretty good learning experience, we obviously weren't good enough out there, but we'll address that and come back stronger."
British skipper Sir Ben Ainslie isn't fazed to be matched up against the top-seeded New Zealanders.
"It's going to be a close race, but to win the America's Cup, you have to beat all the teams.
"Emirates Team NZ have proven through this qualifying round to be sailing really well and very fast over all the range of conditions, so for us, it will be a real battle, but we're up for it and looking forward to it."
The Brits have yet to beat the Kiwis in the two races sailed in the challenger series.
Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill threw a spanner into the works ahead of Burling's announcement on who they would be racing, the brash Australian proclaiming he had a leak within the New Zealand camp and boldly predicted they would choose BAR as their opponents.
Spithill was also damning of the Kiwis' performance under pressure in their two races with the New Zealand boat this week, labelling their mistakes is "very fundamental".
When asked on what the outcome might be in the New Zealanders semi-final, Spithill was slightly more circumspect: "Time will tell."
The semi-finals begin Monday morning (NZT).
Newshub.
