When Team New Zealand have been out on the water, they have sailed their AC75 Taihoro nicely, provided a glimpse at how fast the boat is, and showing how comfortable they are with manoeuvring the vessel.

That was on show in their second race of the regatta against British challenger Ineos Britannia, executing superbly in the pre-start to force the Brits into a mistake that saw them come off their foils.

That essentially decided the race, as Team New Zealand pushed out to a clear lead off the starting line that the Brits could not cut into. While they would have liked to get another race under their belts to close out the day, it wasn’t to be – though they did have to cross the starting line to get the win so executed a pre-start anyway.

“It’s a real shame,” Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling said of the French having to retire from their race.

“We had a really fun first race against Ben – a really fun pre-start I should say, but a bit of a soldier’s course on the race. We were looking forward to another one against the French, but it wasn’t to be.

With three wins on the board, the Kiwi crew are the only team to be perfect through two days of sailing.

American Magic, who Team New Zealand will meet in their final race of the round-robin stage of the regatta, and Luna Rossa have also looked good in their races so far, emerging as the pick of the challengers as their boats look fast and they are sailing nicely.

It was Luna Rossa who got the better of the Americans in their head-to-head race; the Italian boat executing well in the pre-start, though American Magic stayed hot on their tails for the whole race.

It was American Magic’s second race of the day, as they opened proceedings with a comfortable win over Alinghi Red Bull Racing.

Preliminary regatta day two results

American Magic (USA) beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland)

Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia (UK)

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy) beat American Magic (USA)

Emirates Team New Zealand beat Orient Express Racing Team (France)

Day three races

Ineo Britannia v Alinghi Red Bull Racing

American Magic v Orient Express Racing Team

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli v Ineos Britannia

Emirates Team New Zealand v Alinghi Red Bull Racing

Table through day two

Emirates Team New Zealand 3-0

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 2-1

American Magic 2-1

Alinghi Red Bull Racing 1-1

Ineos Britannia 0-2

Orient Express Racing Team 0-3

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.