The New Zealand crew scored a first race win of the SailGP on Monday, but failed to qualify for the three-boat final.
The teams are in the Italian city of Taranto for the second round of the league, and after a disappointing fifth-place finish in Bermuda in April, the Kiwis will be satisfied with a performance improvement.
The NZ team finished the regatta in fourth, to jump one spot on the overall standings, but it could have been even better if not for a fifth-place finish in Sunday's second fleet race.
Needing to finish ahead of Spain to claim a spot in the final, the Kiwi boat faded, allowing the Spanish to sneak into the final race against the United States and Japan.
The Nathan Outteridge skippered Japan claimed the Italian final after the American's, led by Jimmy Spithill suffered a broken rudder while leading the race.
Spithill says the result was a tough pill to swallow after a dominant weekend.
"We were really sailing a perfect race and all we had to do was round the mark and head to the finish," he says.
"Now I know how a Formula 1 driver feels when you have two corners to go and you have an engine failure.
"Some things are just out of your control. You can’t control having a significant impact under the water. These things will happen."
Spain, helmed by another Kiwi in Phil Robertson, lead the series after the first two rounds, with the teams heading to Portsmouth in England next month. '
The New Zealand team are without Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, who are currently preparing for the Olympic regatta in Tokyo in July/August.
SailGP season standings:
Spain 16 pts
Great Britain 15
Japan 14
New Zealand 13
France 12
Australia 12
United States 11
Denmark 11
