Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling cut a relieved figure after his crew overcame some early disappointment to move to the precipice of a spot in the America's Cup final against Team USA.
The Kiwi boat dropped the opening race on day two of the America's Cup challenger series against Artemis Racing before powering back to claim the last two to take a 4-2 lead, now just one win away from a rematch with the Americans.
"We're really, really proud to be 4-2 up after today," Burling told Newshub.
"It's definitely a little bit windier than we thought it was going to be out there, but everyone dug deep in our team to make sure we took a couple of wins.
"Artemis is going really well in those conditions so to be able to come away with two wins is really pleasing for us as a unit."
It wasn't without it's share of nervous moments however, as a gibe on the final leg of race two saw Team NZ almost squander a comfortable lead, ultimately edging the Swedes across the line by a solitary second.
It was an error Burling was more than willing to take ownership of.
"It was mainly my stuff-up. I didn't quite get the layline through the gate and we weren't quite ready to gibe back.
"But the boys dug deep, put out a massive amount of power but that’s just full credit to the amount of power were able to put out on the bikes."
The boats will return to the water Tuesday morning (NZT) for the remaining scheduled three races, although Burling is hoping that ideally they'll only be needing one of those after missing the chance to close out the series Monday (NZT).
"Tomorrow's all about trying to get take that last win and close out this series so we can take on Oracle in a week's time.
"We definitely felt like we had some opportunities to win that first race, but fighting back to take two wins after that disappointing first race is something we're absolutely stoked with.
"We've said all along we've come here to try to win the America's Cup ,so we definitely feel like we're getting some good practice here."
Race seven of the nine race series is due to start at approximately 5:10am Tuesday (NZT).
Newshub.
