Team NZ have kept their America's Cup World Series hopes alive, but received a rude awakening from their British rivals in the process.
After their surprise loss to American Magic on opening day on the Waitematā Harbour, the Kiwis needed to sweep Team UK in both their encounters to keep pace with their opposition in the regatta standings.
Adding spice to the showdown, Team UK skipper Sir Ben Ainslie had pointed an accusing finger at the Cup holders over the foil system that had malfunctioned for the British, leaving them becalmed on Day One.
When the war of words turned to the water, Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling handled Ainslie easily at the start of their first encounter and pulled away unchallenged.
They made a couple of slip-ups, almost colliding with the top mark after the first leg and falling off their foils in spectaculor fasion at the end of the fourth leg, losing a few seconds in the process, but the home team recovered well to extend their lead to 1m 32s by the end.
Their second race was a different different affair.
Entering the start box first, Ainslie forced Team NZ off the favoured end of the line and the Kiwis fell of their foils again, falling well behind on the opening upwind leg.
They were still 12 second behind at the top mark, but showed their downwind speed by snatching the lead by the second gate and eventually extending out to a 1m 42 victory.
"We obviously learnt a lot in those couple of races," says Burling. "We definitely didn't sail as clean as we did in that first one yesterday, but it's good to be out here and run through all the systems.
"I think we showed again that the boat is definitely fast enough in that last one, so we're happy enough"
The British could also take heart from their performances, after their calamitous opening efforts, and may yet give the other challengers something to think about on Saturday.
American Magic and Luna Ross split their two matches - the US produced the first really scary moment of the campaign, almost toppling over, but stayed upright to match the Kiwis on three wins-one loss atop the table.
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