Victory over Team Sweden has assured Team New Zealand of progress into the America's Cup challenger semifinals, but now the goal must be securing top qualifying spot into the next stage.
The Kiwis held their nerve and forced their rivals into another tactical error late in today's race to defeatthe Swedes by one minute 31 seconds - their second nail-biting win over the same opponents in consecutive days.
That result gives Emirates Team New Zealand five points from five wins and a loss so far, but just as importantly, Sweden's loss to Ben Ainslie Racing (GBR) later today reduced their record to two wins from seven races.
Even if Sweden were to win their three remaining contests and TNZ were lose their next four, the two teams would tie on five points, with New Zealand's higher finish in the America's Cup World Series providing the tiebreaker.
Cupholders Oracle Team USA have the same record as Team NZ this week, but lead the standings by virtue of their bonus point for finishing runners-up at the world series. They will not contest the challenger semis, but if they stay atop the qualifying standings, they will take an extra point into their title defence.
Even if TNZ can topple Team USA in their return match on Sunday, they still need another team to also beat the holders, if they hope to snatch that point away from the Americans.
The most immediate goal must be to finish the qualifying stage as leading challengers for a better draw against the fourth-placed team in the semifinals.
Current qualifying standings Oracle Team USA 6pts Emirates Team NZ 5pts Land Rover BAR (GBR) 4pts Artemis Racing (Sweden) 2pts Groupama Team France 2pts Softbank Team Japan 2pts
Today's racing Emirates Team NZ beat Artemis Racing (Sweden) by one min 31 secs Oracle Team USA beat Groupama Team France by one min 56 secs Land Rover BAR v Artemis Racing (Sweden) by 30 secs
