Team New Zealand claimed the America's Cup for a third time on Tuesday after securing a 7-1 series victory over holders Oracle Team USA.

It was a remarkable turnaround for the Auckland-based syndicate after suffering a defeat at the last regatta in 2013, giving up an 8-1 lead over Oracle in the process.

LIVE: The Afterguard - Victory for Team NZ Victory for Team New Zealand. Here's everything you need to know about how they won it. Posted by nzherald.co.nz on Monday, 26 June 2017

With a young crew led by Olympic gold medallist Peter Burling, Team New Zealand sailed, and cycled, their way through the qualifying series to reach the America's Cup final.

Here's how they secured the America's Cup once again.

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America's Cup World Series

Before the six teams got to Bermuda they all raced in the America's Cup World Series, staged across nine different locations. Land Rover BAR won the series to take two bonus points into the America's Cup qualifying series, with Oracle earning one point for finishing second. Team New Zealand ended up in third place on the overall standings with just six victories across the 40 fleet races.

Louis Vuitton America's Cup qualifying series

On to Bermuda for the start of the America's Cup regatta with the five qualifying teams along with the defenders Oracle Team USA racing each other in two rounds with the top four challengers advancing to the playoffs. Oracle were only playing for the chance to take a bonus point into the America's cup, which they achieved by finishing top of the standings with eight victories and two defeats. Team New Zealand also finished with an eight-win, two loss record but vitally those two TNZ defeats were against James Spithill and Oracle Team USA. The two squared off on the opening day of racing with Oracle passing Team New Zealand on the sixth mark to win by just six seconds. They clashed again on the final day of the qualifying series - racing for the vital America's Cup bonus point - with Peter Burling making costly errors to lose by 29 seconds.

Team New Zealand still finished as the top qualifier and picked Ben Ainslie Racing as their semifinal opponent.

Louis Vuitton America's Cup qualifying semifinals

Team New Zealand lined up against BAR but it was a dud of a first day with Ainlie's boat suffering a broken camber arm which saw them retire from race one and withdrawl from race two. Team New Zealand then extended their lead to 3-0 in windy conditions the next day before suffering a dramatic pitch-pole and capsizing into the Bermuda waters during the pre-race for race four. All TNZ crew were fine but the shorecrew had a major job ahead to fix the boat. They luckily got an extra day to fix the damage with racing called off the following day as Team New Zealand returned fresh and ready to take race five before BAR hit back in race six to win by 19 seconds and make it 4-2 in the first to five series. Racing resumed the next day with Team New Zealand and match point and they knocked out the British syndicate with a 39 second victory.

In the other semifinal, Dean Barker's Team Japan gave up a 3-1 series lead to lose 5-3 to Artemis.

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Louis Vuitton America's Cup qualifier final

Team New Zealand advanced through to their fifth America's Cup final with an enthralling series win over Artemis. On the opening day, Team NZ and the Swedish syndicate split the opening two races before Artemis retired from the third race to give TNZ an early 2-1 lead. Team NZ were possibly lucky to have take out the third race after Artemis skipper Nathan Outteridge slid overboard approaching the final top gate.

The drama continued on the next day. Artemis evened the series at 2-2 before being forced to retire from day five to fix a mechanical error. In the third race of the day, Team NZ lagged three seconds behind at the third mark, but split to the opposite side of the track downwind and crossed ahead at the next rounding. They stretched that lead upwind on the next beat and simply had to defend to the finish.

But as they rounded the final mark, the Kiwis fell off their foils and stopped dead, allowing Sweden to close at an alarming rate and almost snatch the point.

"We definitely did it a little tough there, and it just shows one little mistake, one little error and you're really struggling," said Burling.

Like the BAR series, Team New Zealand went into the next day on match point and needed just the one race to secure the Louis Vuitton trophy and book advance to the America's Cup, winning the series 5-2.

The America's Cup

Team New Zealand began the America's Cup match down negative one but quickly made up for that on a dominating day one with a 30-second in race one before thrashing Oracle by 1 minute and 27 seconds in race two. Two more big race wins on day two put the challengers in a commanding position - a 3-0 lead heading into the five day break. Spithill promised Oracle would be working every hour to get faster but that didn't seem to make a difference with Team NZ moving to a 4-0 lead with a two-minute victory in race five.

Previous Advertisement Next Skip Advertisement Image 1 of 15: Team New Zealand celebrate 35th America's Cup Match win. Photo / Gilles Martin-Raget Image 2 of 15: Blair Tuke and Peter Burling stoked with America's Cup win. Photo / Ricardo Pinto Image 3 of 15: Team New Zealand member emotional after Team New Zealand win. Photo / Sander van der Borch Image 4 of 15: The crew of Emirates Team New Zealand spray champagne as they celebrate after defeating Oracle Team USA to win the America's Cup sailing competition. Photo / AP Image 5 of 15: Kiwi fans parked up in front of the big screen watching the prestart in Bermuda. Photo / Dana Johannsen Image 6 of 15: Kiwi fan crossing her fingers in hope of a Team New Zealand win. Photo / Jason Oxenham Image 7 of 15: Team New Zealand celebrate America's Cup win with champagne. Photo / Gilles Martin-Raget Image 8 of 15: 35th America's Cup Match Presented by Louis Vuitton / Photo Ricardo Pinto Image 9 of 15: Emirates Team New Zealand are welcomed by spectators after defeating Oracle Team USA in the America's Cup sailing competition. Photo / AP Image 10 of 15: NZ fans have the run of the village today in Bermuda. Photo / Dana Johannsen Image 11 of 15: Team New Zealand celebrate America's Cup win. Photo / Gilles Martin-Raget Image 12 of 15: A large crowd has arrived at the Maritime Museum to watch Race 9 of the Americas Cup as Emirates Team New Zealand faces off against Oracle Team USA. Photo / Nick Reed Image 13 of 15: Team New Zealand and fans celebrate America's Cup win. Photo / Ricardo Pinto Image 14 of 15: Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling, left, and teammate Glenn Ashby hold the Americas Cup aloft as they celebrate after defeating Oracle Team USA in the America's Cup. Photo / AP Image 15 of 15: Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling gives the thumbs up after beating Oracle skippered by Jimmy Spithill. Photo / Getty Images Image 1 of 15: Team New Zealand celebrate 35th America's Cup Match win. Photo / Gilles Martin-Raget

Spithill finally had something to crow about as the much-faster Oracle boat claimed victory in race six to make it 4-1 at the end of day three of racing. Was another comeback on? Not so fast. Burling yet again dominated the Australian in both starts in races seven and eight and held off a fighting Spithill to move Team New Zealand to match point at 6-1.

Team New Zealand then crushed Oracle in race nine to complete the victory.</s>Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand have won the 35th America’s Cup.

Another dominant race win for Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand in race nine of the America’s Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton, gave the Kiwi team the victory on the Great Sound in Bermuda, sparking wild celebrations on board their America’s Cup Class [ACC] boat, and the team’s support boats on the Great Sound.

The Kiwi team dominated the final stage of the 35th America’s Cup, winning eight races to Oracle Team USA’s one race win, giving the New Zealanders a final winning scoreline of 7-1.

The America’s Cup was last won by a team representing New Zealand in 2000 and they are now the Defenders of the America’s Cup for the 36th installment of the competition for the oldest trophy in international sport.

Race nine started with both Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA enjoying clean starts and engaged in a drag race to the first mark, the US team edging just ahead but then losing ground to their rivals on the run to the second mark.

Burling was serene at the helm of the Kiwi boat, displaying no nerves as he steered his team towards glory, but Spithill and the Oracle Team USA crew were not giving up, pushing harder than ever to try and take the tie to race ten. However, it was not to be.

By the third mark the Challenge’s lead was up to 26 seconds, increasing further still at the fourth mark, up to 34 seconds, and from that point, barring mistakes by Burling and his all-conquering Emirates Team New Zealand crew, the die was cast.

Oracle Team USA managed to peg back their rivals slightly in the latter stages of the race, but New Zealand sealed their win in impressive style, crossing the finish line for the final time in the 35th America’s Cup 55 seconds ahead of the US team.</s>Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand win the 35th America's Cup

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by America's Cup today at 2:30 amThe Kiwi team dominated the final stage of the 35th America’s Cup, winning eight races to Oracle Team USA’s one race win, giving the New Zealanders a final winning scoreline of seven - one.The America’s Cup was last won by a team representing New Zealand in 2000 and they are now the Defenders of the America’s Cup for the 36th installment of the competition for the oldest trophy in international sport.In the final press conference of the 35th America’s Cup, Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand, also announced that the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has accepted the challenge of Circolo della Vela Sicilia, who will be the Challenger of Record for the 36th America's Cup and will be represented by Luna Rossa.: “We’re just blown away. We came here to win the America’s Cup and right now we’re taking the America’s Cup back home to New Zealand.“To be able to win eight races in Beautiful Bermuda in front of a big crowd of our own fans is overwhelming, we’re just happy to be able to share this moment with them, we’re just blown away.“I’ve grown up watching this competition as a fan and to be a Kiwi and taking this Cup home is a dream come true.“To be able to win this event at such a young age is an unreal feeling. However, I’m just a tiny part of a massive team and it is incredible to be able to reward the hard work of those hundreds of people who have supported us, not only here but back home in New Zealand as well.“We’ve had to go through some incredibly tough times to get to this point. It has been an incredibly tough path to get past the rest of the challengers and then Oracle Team USA and it’s credit to every team that competed.“It’s so unique to get to sail these boats, every day they can be different. Our incredible shore team gave us that edge and to be able to reward their hard work and bring this Cup home with us is an amazing feeling.“It’s just sinking in really and I think that will be the same feeling for all of those Kiwi fans watching us win the America’s Cup back home.“For me I think the reason we won was because of what happened four years ago. This team has gone through some really tough spots from San Francisco and to be able to reward this team with the America’s Cup is the best feeling, because they are such an incredible team.“I’d like to say thank you to Bermuda. It has been an amazing venue for a sailing event and I’ve absolutely loved this place, I’d love to come back at some stage.“It’s just an amazing feeling of satisfaction to have finally won the America’s Cup.“It has been an incredibly tough journey to get here. We came across late to Bermuda from New Zealand and to be able to get the boat into good shape in such short time is all credit to our amazing team.“I’m just so proud to be a part of this team and to be able to bring the Cup home and I want to thank the support of the whole country.“What happened in 2013 was a brutal experience for everyone involved, to be so close was extremely disappointing and is something that will live with all of us for the rest of our lives.“So to be able to come here a few years later and pull off an unbelievable victory has really redeemed that situation for New Zealand and it feels like justice has prevailed.“I think we’ve seen some unbelievable advancements here with the boats and the type of races we’ve seen and it’s great for our sport. From a sailing perspective it’s going to be hard to sail anything else after what we’ve seen in these boats, the technology is just absolutely amazing.”“We’ve done it, finally!“We probably don’t realise how big a deal this is back in New Zealand. I’ve been told that there was traffic jams at 4am with people trying to get to work just to see the races, which is utterly incredible.“We’ve had a phenomenal group of guys, we’ve battled some serious adversity but as a group we’ve overcome everything. There have been a lot of people behind that and none more so than Matteo De Nora, who has stuck with the team through thick and thin and believed in everything that we have done. New Zealand owes a lifetime of gratitude to him for what we have achieved.“We thought outside of the square and we did it our way. After San Francisco we knew we couldn’t out-spend other teams here so we had to out-think everyone. One of the things to come out of San Francisco is that we were out-designed and we knew this time round that we had to push that area.“This time round we had no restrictions on design. We just wanted to see what we could come up with and we have achieved some truly amazing things that have been revolutionary in this sport.“After San Francisco we had a pretty tough debrief and came up with 20 points that we had to change. One of those was that we had to invest in technology and the people that provide it. We also had to get our arms around the next generation of yachtsmen that were coming through and Peter (Burling) was one of those.“He told me he wanted to be helmsman, so it was all about investing in the right people and giving them the responsibility to go out and achieve what we knew we could.“It is important that we make the next America’s Cup affordable but we also need to remember that it is the America’s Cup and it is one of the top sports and not a little beach regatta. It is never going to be cheap.“It is a fine balance between not making it prohibitively expensive, but not being so cheap that it devalues the competition.“At the core of what we believe, we have to create an event that takes a lot of the good that has happened here, because there been a lot of good here. Just because we didn’t sign the Framework Agreement, that doesn’t mean to say there weren’t elements we didn’t agree with, it was just didn’t agree with every element.“To me it is a privilege to host the America’s Cup. It is not a right and we will put in place rules and an organisation of our own that will do everything to be good enough.”““On behalf of the whole of Oracle Team USA, congratulations to Emirates Team New Zealand. What an incredible team. They’ve been a class above everyone in the 35th America’s Cup and we take our hats off to you. Well done.“They sailed better than anyone else out here and so, rightly so, they are the 35th America’s Cup champions.“The defeat hasn’t really sunk in yet and it is definitely weird looking at the trophy and knowing we won’t be taking it home.“With hindsight there are a lot of things you would like to change but I think it’s far too early to say what might have gone wrong.“Finally, I want to say, to Bermuda, you’ve welcomed us to your beautiful island and we’ve loved every moment of it. Thank you.”, was quick to acknowledge the first New Zealand victory in the America’s Cup since 2000, saying, “I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations and praise to everyone in Emirates Team New Zealand for winning the 35th America’s Cup.“Helmed brilliantly by Peter Burling, with the guiding influence of skipper Glenn Ashby, supported by a world class sailing, design and shore team, they performed magnificently here in Bermuda, winning in dominant fashion.“I know just how much this victory means to the team and to the people of New Zealand. This is a remarkable achievement, one that will be rightly celebrated in Bermuda and across New Zealand and I hope those celebrations live long in the memory, much as the team’s victory in Bermuda has now written a new chapter in the history of the America’s Cup. Congratulations Emirates Team New Zealand. You deserve your victory, you deserve the accolades coming your way, and now, you deserve to enjoy it.”Race nine started with both Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA enjoying clean starts and engaged in a drag race to the first mark, the US team edging just ahead but then losing ground to their rivals on the run to the second mark.Burling was serene at the helm of the Kiwi boat, displaying no nerves as he steered his team towards glory, but Spithill and the Oracle Team USA crew were not giving up, pushing harder than ever to try and take the tie to race ten. However, it was not to be.By the third mark the Challenge’s lead was up to 26 seconds, increasing further still at the fourth mark, up to 34 seconds, and from that point, barring mistakes by Burling and his all-conquering Emirates Team New Zealand crew, the die was cast.Oracle Team USA managed to peg back their rivals slightly in the latter stages of the race, but New Zealand sealed their win in impressive style, crossing the finish line for the final time in the 35th America’s Cup 55 seconds ahead of the US team.Emirates Team New Zealand beat Oracle Team USA by 55 seconds
• Emirates Team New Zealand 7*
• Oracle Team USA 1* Emirates Team New Zealand started the America’s Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton -1 due to Oracle Team USA’s win in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers.</s>HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) Helmsman Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand have won the America’s Cup by routing software tycoon Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA.

The underfunded but resourceful Kiwis claimed the oldest trophy in international sports on the Great Sound on Monday, winning Race 9 to clinch the match at 7-1.

Team New Zealand started with a negative point because Oracle won the qualifiers, forcing the Kiwis to win eight races to return the Auld Mug to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland for the first time since 2003.

The Kiwis atoned for their mind-numbing collapse in 2013, when they blew an 8-1 lead as Oracle won eight straight races in one of the greatest comebacks in sports.

The 26-year-old Burling becomes the youngest helmsman to win the America’s Cup.</s>HAMILTON, Bermuda — Redemption for a gutty crew of five New Zealanders and one Australian came on the turquoise waters of Bermuda’s Great Sound, four years and 3,000 miles removed from one of the most brutal collapses in sports.

With a mixture of ingenuity and national pride, Emirates Team New Zealand got back up after taking a gut punch for the ages, came to the Bermuda Triangle and ripped the America’s Cup right out of tech tycoon Larry Ellison’s hands.

“We’re on top of the world,” helmsman Peter Burling said Monday after steering the Kiwis’ incredibly fast 50-foot foiling catamaran to the clinching victory in the 7-1 rout of two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA.

As soon as the red-and-black Kiwi cat crossed the finish line, the normally reserved crew began whooping and jumped up onto the trampoline netting and into a joyful group hug.

Magnums of champagne arrived and Burling and crewman Blair Tuke, who won Olympic gold and silver medals together, sprayed the crew. The crew enjoyed beers together before going ashore.

About an hour later, with the America’s Cup set on a podium, Burling and Glenn Ashby grabbed it together and lifted it over their heads. As the silver trophy was passed around, some team members poured champagne into it and took swigs.

At 26, Burling becomes the youngest helmsman to win sailing’s greatest prize in a competition that dates to 1851.

The only non-Kiwi on the crew is Ashby, a 39-year-old Australian, multihull wiz and Olympic silver medalist who serves as skipper and controls the space-age wingsail with an Xbox-like device.

There were no Americans on Oracle Team USA’s crew, which included five Australians and one from Antigua.

Ellison, the Silicon Valley maverick worth an estimated $62 billion, watched the humbling defeat from a chase boat and later shook hands with his crew. He was joined by New Zealander Russell Coutts, the CEO of Oracle Team USA who suffered his first defeat in six America’s Cup finals. It was Coutts who first won the America’s Cup for the small sailing-mad island nation, skippering Team New Zealand to a five-race sweep of Dennis Conner off San Diego in 1995.

Team New Zealand started this match with a negative point because Oracle won the qualifiers, forcing the Kiwis to win eight races to return the Auld Mug to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland for the first time since 2003.

It was sweet atonement for the Kiwis. In 2013 on San Francisco Bay, Team New Zealand, then led by Dean Barker, reached match point at 8-1. Oracle then staged one of the biggest comebacks in sports, winning eight straight races to retain the Auld Mug.

Ashby is the only member of the sailing crew who returned from that collapse.

“It was absolutely brutal for the team. It was a hard pill to swallow,” Ashby said. “For myself and a lot of the other guys that are with the team this time around, it is a great redemption and just a relief to right the wrongs of the last campaign. We obviously learned a lot from that campaign.

“For all the guys involved, I think there will be a lot of proud yachties from New Zealand, a lot of proud Kiwis today with what’s been achieved over the past few years.”

Thousands of sleepy New Zealanders got up at 5 a.m. to watch the race on television.

“It’s David and Goliath. We beat the biggest and the best in the world, so that’s just fabulous,” said Roger Foley, who watched with dozens of others at the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in the capital, Wellington.

Many felt relief as well as elation after the heartbreak of the 2013 campaign.

The nation’s Prime Minister, Bill English, posted a short video of himself celebrating at home: “We are so proud of you,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Kiwis’ fast boat was powered by a revolutionary grinding system in which they replaced traditional arm power with leg power. They installed four stationary bikes in each hull, with the “cyclors” powering the hydraulic systems used to trim the wingsail and control the daggerboards that are tipped with hydrofoils.

Among the crew was Simon van Velthooven, who won a bronze medal in track cycling at the London Olympics.

The underfunded Kiwis trained in Auckland — shadowed by Oracle spy boats — until arriving in Bermuda in late April. They bounced back from a capsize in the challenger semifinals.

“We knew with this format that we had to be extremely innovative and extremely aggressive with our design philosophy,” Ashby said. “We sort of all as a group agreed and recognized, I guess, where the bar will eventually get with our sport and we tried to fast-track that learning process as fast as we could.

“It was a big risk, I guess, but we knew we had to risk in order to ultimately win this America’s Cup.”

In Race 9, skipper Jimmy Spithill put Oracle in the lead rounding the first mark. But the faster Kiwi cat overhauled the American-flagged boat and sailed into the lead on the downwind second leg. The Kiwis won by 55 seconds.

In 2010, Spithill became the youngest skipper to win the America’s Cup, at 30. That was the first of two Cup victories for Ellison.

“Full credit to Team New Zealand. I mean, man, what a series,” said Spithill, an Australian. “They made fewer mistakes and they fully deserve it so our hats are off to them.”

Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge will be the Challenger of Record for the 36th America’s Cup, helping Team New Zealand decide the rules and class of boat.

Associated Press writer Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.</s>HAMILTON, Bermuda — Helmsman Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand won the America’s Cup on Monday with a resounding romp against software tycoon Larry Ellison’s two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA.

The underfunded but resourceful Kiwis claimed the oldest trophy in international sports with another dominating light-air sprint around the Great Sound aboard their fast, 50-foot foiling catamaran. They won Race 9 to clinch the 35th America’s Cup match at 7-1.

As soon as the red-and-black cat crossed the finish line, the normally reserved crew of six began whooping and jumped up onto the trampoline netting and into a joyful group hug.

“We’re on top of the world,” said Burling, who at 26 becomes the youngest helmsman to win sailing’s greatest prize in a competition that dates to 1851.

Magnums of champagne arrived and Burling and crewman Blair Tuke, who won Olympic gold and silver medals together, sprayed the crew.

There were five Kiwis on the crew plus Australian Glenn Ashby, a multihull wiz who serves as skipper and controls the wingsail.

There were no Americans on Oracle Team USA’s crew, which included five Australians and one from Antigua.

Team New Zealand started with a negative point because Oracle won the qualifiers, forcing the Kiwis to win eight races to return the Auld Mug to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland for the first time since 2003.

The Kiwis atoned for their mind-numbing collapse in 2013, when they blew an 8-1 lead as Oracle won eight straight races in one of the greatest comebacks in sports.

Race 9 was another blowout for Team New Zealand, which represents a small, sailing-mad island nation.

Skipper Jimmy Spithill put Oracle in the lead rounding the first mark, but the fast Kiwi cat overhauleld the American-flagged boat and sailed into the lead on the downwind second leg.

The Kiwis’ fast boat was powered by a revolutionary grinding system in which they replaced traditional arm power with leg power. They installed four stationary bikes in each hull, with the “cyclors” powering the hydraulic systems used to trim the wingsail and control the daggerboards that are tipped with hydrofoils.

Among the crew was Simon van Velthooven, who won a bronze medal in track cycling at the London Olympics.

In 2010, Spithill became the youngest skipper to win the America’s Cup, at 30. That was the first of two Cup victories for Ellison, one of the world’s richest men.</s>The Kiwis defeated the two-time defending champions 7-1 in Bermuda. At 26, Peter Burling became the youngest helmsman to win sailing’s greatest prize

HAMILTON, Bermuda – Redemption for a gutty crew of five New Zealanders and one Australian came on the turquoise waters of Bermuda’s Great Sound, four years and about 3,000 miles removed from one of the most brutal collapses in sports.

With a mixture of ingenuity and national pride, Emirates Team New Zealand got back up after taking a gut punch, came to the Bermuda Triangle and ripped the America’s Cup right out of tech tycoon Larry Ellison’s hands.

“We’re on top of the world,” helmsman Peter Burling said Monday after steering the Kiwis’ incredibly fast 50-foot foiling catamaran to the clinching victory in the 7-1 rout of two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA.

As soon as the red-and-black Kiwi cat crossed the finish line, the normally reserved crew began whooping and jumped up onto the trampoline netting and into a joyful group hug.

Magnums of champagne arrived and Burling and crewman Blair Tuke, who won Olympic gold and silver medals together, sprayed the crew. The crew enjoyed beers together before going ashore.

About an hour later, with the America’s Cup set on a podium, Burling and Glenn Ashby grabbed it together and lifted it over their heads. As the silver trophy was passed around, some team members poured champagne into it and took swigs.

At 26, Burling becomes the youngest helmsman to win sailing’s greatest prize in a competition that dates to 1851.

The only non-Kiwi on the crew is Ashby, a 39-year-old Australian, multihull wiz and Olympic silver medalist who serves as skipper and controls the space-age wingsail with an Xbox-like device.

In 2013 on San Francisco Bay, Team New Zealand, then led by Dean Barker, reached match point at 8-1. Oracle then staged one of the biggest comebacks in sports, winning eight straight races to retain the Auld Mug.

There were no Americans on Oracle Team USA’s crew, which included five Australians and one from Antigua.

Ellison, the Silicon Valley maverick worth an estimated $62 billion, watched the humbling defeat from a chase boat and later shook hands with his crew. He was joined by New Zealander Russell Coutts, the CEO of Oracle Team USA who suffered his first defeat in six America’s Cup finals.</s>HAMILTON, Bermuda — Helmsman Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand won the America’s Cup on Monday with a resounding romp against software tycoon Larry Ellison’s two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA.

The underfunded but resourceful Kiwis claimed the oldest trophy in international sports with another dominating light-air sprint around the Great Sound aboard their fast, 50-foot foiling catamaran. They won Race 9 to clinch the 35th America’s Cup match at 7-1.

As soon as the red-and-black cat crossed the finish line, the normally reserved crew of six began whooping and jumped up onto the trampoline netting and into a joyful group hug.

“We’re on top of the world,” said Burling, who at 26 becomes the youngest helmsman to win sailing’s greatest prize in a competition that dates to 1851.

Magnums of champagne arrived and Burling and crewman Blair Tuke, who won Olympic gold and silver medals together, sprayed the crew.

There were five Kiwis on the crew plus Australian Glenn Ashby, a multihull wiz who serves as skipper and controls the wingsail.

“A few years ago, it was absolutely brutal for the team, and it was a hard pill to swallow,” Ashby told The New York Times. “For the sailors and all the other guys who are with the team, it is a great redemption, and I guess a relief to right the wrongs of the last campaign.”

“We obviously learned a lot from that campaign, and we put our best foot forward as best we could,” Ashby told The Times.

There were no Americans on Oracle Team USA’s crew, which included five Australians and one from Antigua.

Team New Zealand started with a negative point because Oracle won the qualifiers, forcing the Kiwis to win eight races to return the Auld Mug to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland for the first time since 2003.

The Kiwis atoned for their mind-numbing collapse in 2013, when they blew an 8-1 lead as Oracle won eight straight races in one of the greatest comebacks in sports.

“We’re competing with other sports to get kids’ attention. We’ve got to make our sport exciting and we’ve got to modernize it… It can’t be unchanged since 1851,” Ellison told CBS News’ Charlie Rose in 2013 about his efforts to update the sport.

Race 9 was another blowout for Team New Zealand, which represents a small, sailing-mad island nation.

Skipper Jimmy Spithill put Oracle in the lead rounding the first mark, but the fast Kiwi cat overhauled the American-flagged boat and sailed into the lead on the downwind second leg.

The Kiwis’ fast boat was powered by a revolutionary grinding system in which they replaced traditional arm power with leg power. They installed four stationary bikes in each hull, with the “cyclors” powering the hydraulic systems used to trim the wingsail and control the daggerboards that are tipped with hydrofoils.

Among the crew was Simon van Velthooven, who won a bronze medal in track cycling at the London Olympics.

In 2010, Spithill became the youngest skipper to win the America’s Cup, at 30. That was the first of two Cup victories for Ellison, one of the world’s richest men.</s>As soon as the red-and-black Kiwi cat crossed the finish line, the normally reserved crew began whooping and jumped up onto the trampoline netting and into a joyful group hug.

Magnums of champagne arrived and Burling and crewman Blair Tuke, who won Olympic gold and silver medals together, sprayed the crew. The crew enjoyed beers together before going ashore.

About an hour later, with the America's Cup set on a podium, Burling and Glenn Ashby grabbed it together and lifted it over their heads. As the silver trophy was passed around, some team members poured champagne into it and took swigs.

At 26, Burling becomes the youngest helmsman to win sailing's greatest prize in a competition that dates to 1851.

The only non-Kiwi on the crew is Ashby, a 39-year-old Australian, multihull wiz and Olympic silver medalist who serves as skipper and controls the space-age wingsail with an Xbox-like device.

There were no Americans on Oracle Team USA's crew, which included five Australians and one from Antigua.

Ellison, the Silicon Valley maverick worth an estimated $62 billion, watched the humbling defeat from a chase boat and later shook hands with his crew. He was joined by New Zealander Russell Coutts, the CEO of Oracle Team USA who suffered his first defeat in six America's Cup finals. It was Coutts who first won the America's Cup for the small sailing-mad island nation, skippering Team New Zealand to a five-race sweep of Dennis Conner off San Diego in 1995.

Team New Zealand started this match with a negative point because Oracle won the qualifiers, forcing the Kiwis to win eight races to return the Auld Mug to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland for the first time since 2003.

It was sweet atonement for the Kiwis. In 2013 on San Francisco Bay, Team New Zealand, then led by Dean Barker, reached match point at 8-1. Oracle then staged one of the biggest comebacks in sports, winning eight straight races to retain the Auld Mug.

Ashby is the only member of the sailing crew who returned from that collapse.

"It was absolutely brutal for the team. It was a hard pill to swallow," Ashby said. "For myself and a lot of the other guys that are with the team this time around, it is a great redemption and just a relief to right the wrongs of the last campaign. We obviously learned a lot from that campaign.

"For all the guys involved, I think there will be a lot of proud yachties from New Zealand, a lot of proud Kiwis today with what's been achieved over the past few years."

Thousands of sleepy New Zealanders got up at 5 a.m. to watch the race on television.

"It's David and Goliath. We beat the biggest and the best in the world, so that's just fabulous," said Roger Foley, who watched with dozens of others at the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in the capital, Wellington.

Many felt relief as well as elation after the heartbreak of the 2013 campaign.</s>Emirates Team New Zealand have a match point for the America’s Cup after winning two races of the America’s Cup against Oracle Team USA to go 6-1 up in the first-to-seven series.

Sailing’s longest grudge match is moving clinically towards its final act.

A lone race win yesterday by Oracle fuelled US hopes of a comeback, but before the start of the first race they were were stomped on firmly by Peter Burling and the New Zealand team.

In both races it was Burling who made the better start, and in the second he made his most aggressive pre-start manoeuvre to date, luffing Oracle almost to a standstill before sprinting away.

After admitting too many mistakes themselves yesterday, Emirates Team New Zealand came out rebooted, and this time it was Spithill who made all the errors, including getting a penalty for straying into the boundary.

Why so many have crept in now, from a team which has made relatively few in the qualifiers, is the big question, and for clues you have to look to the changes Spithill says they have made to their boat. To improve speed, they have lightened it by a rumoured 100kg and fitted a modified and extended version of their high speed boards.

Those changes will have affected the boats’s characteristics and stability, and Spithill as much as admitted it yesterday when he said described the quest for speed as a “a compromise. Typically, what’s fast is very challenging to sail and usually unstable.”

Watch Chris Draper, tactician of SoftBank Team Japan, analyse what the two teams are doing, and speculate on how these boats could be developed in this video interview with Elaine.

Emirates Team New Zealand playing it better

With winds that ended up being a little lighter today than the 12 knots forecast, this stability/handling issue may have been exacerbated for Oracle. Was this the reason for sinking lengthily onto two hulls in the pre-start and at the leeward gate in the first race?

New Zealand’s wins, on the other hand, are a testimony to their radical approach in so many areas, from cyclors to electronic inputs, as well as the skill and composure of the crew. In the second race of the day today, they foiled the entire way round the course.

Another factor is Burling’s particular gifts. The man is an apparent wind beast, and a master at staying in phase with the wind shifts.

So, now, Oracle Team USA have no leeway for error. They are, as Spithill euphemistically put it: “in a spot.”

We asked Spithill if he would consider a change to key crew on Oracle Team USA tomorrow, recalling that one of the turnaround points in San Francisco was swapping out tactician John Kostecki for Ben Ainslie.

“I think everything’s on the table,” he replied. “Every single member in Oracle Team USA will do whatever will help the team win and that’s my attitude too.

“We’ll go back, review and throw everything on the table: the team, the people, the boat. And the configuration on the water tomorrow will be whatever we think will give us our best chance of winning.”

Spithill kept saying all they had to do was win one race, and take it one race at a time. (His Dad had a good line too.)

This is true. But so is the fact that they will now have to win six in a row against the fastest boat in the 166-year history of the America’s Cup. It’s a bit different this time.

And that boat is sailed, as we now know, by a helmsman so cool-headed they probably have to heat his helmet off at the end of races.

All the same, the buff boxer wasn’t about to show any chink of weakness.

“The boat is actually quite quick and very competitive,” Spithill countered. “I still think we can win races, we can improve it and we proved we can win races against these guys if we sail well, but if we make mistakes like we did today, we won’t win races.

“Tonight we’re going to do some work in the shed. There are a couple of things we want to try and tonight the boys will be on the tools.”

Peter Burling kept repeating the same mantra he has done all along. “I think there’s plenty of fight out there. We keep pushing forward, we are learning and improving.”

He didn’t look that excited, but then Burling never has. Tomorrow, though, is the day we could see a different face. One more win by Burling and Co, a single 20-minute execution is all it will take to book the Cup a return flight to Auckland.
In sailing, Emirates Team New Zealand win the 35th America's Cup, 7–1, against Oracle Team USA.