KEY POINTS:
Back to basics was the tactic Team New Zealand employed to get their first win in the challenger series.
Team New Zealand powered past Italians +39 to win by an impressive 2m 41s.
The win goes some way towards making up for the syndicate's first match loss, to Mascalzone Latino.
Team New Zealand strategist Ray Davies said after the loss they went back to basics and ensured they had clear communication.
"It is easy to complicate things with the amount of data we have coming on to the boat so we really went back to basics and kept it simple and left it up to Dean [Barker] to clean them out at the start and cover from there."
In the fickle breeze Team New Zealand powered over the startline 3s ahead of their rivals.
"We wanted to be to the right," tactician Terry Hutchinson said.
"They got the favoured side of the start but they did it at the risk of being slow. We got a nice start close enough to the weather end [so] that when we could tack to port, right away we were able to capitalise [on it]."
The Kiwis flew around the top mark 1m 22s ahead of the Italians, gaining in the second half of the first beat.
From there the Italians, with their bandaged up version five mast, failed to get near NZL92.
In other races Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing were nearly tipped over by South Africa's Team Shosholoza.
The South Africans led the Americans around the first lap but let them back in the game through errors.
Team New Zealand's second match against Areva Challenge was postponed because of insufficient wind.
If the races with Areva Challenge and Desafio Espanol were completed overnight then Team New Zealand will face Team Shosholoza and United Internet tonight.
