KEY POINTS:
VALENCIA - Team New Zealand keep accentuating the positives but the negatives are building up following their less-than-convincing performance in round one of the challenger series.
They finished third behind BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa and just one point ahead of Desafio Espanol in fourth.
The Emirates-sponsored syndicate went into the series as the top-ranked team with the four bonus points accumulated from the pre-regattas.
But that advantage soon evaporated following defeats to Mascalzone Latino, Luna Rossa and BMW Oracle Racing.
Team New Zealand's basic problem appears to be boat speed. They would also have to be worried about skipper Dean Barker's starting and the afterguard's decision-making.
Yachting commentator Peter Lester said Team New Zealand should be concerned about their first-round performance. "They must improve otherwise they are in big trouble.
"Starting must be a concern for them. A bigger concern will be the fact they are off the pace."
In its maiden outing, NZL92 was beaten in three races.
Its lack of potency was most noticeable against Oracle's USA98.
Oracle trailed Team New Zealand by about 100m on the first beat yet managed to catch up, pass and then comfortably beat them.
The Oracle afterguard played the windshifts to perfection but there was no denying the Oracle boat was a click faster than the Kiwis.
Starting is also an area of concern, which is surprising considering how dominant Barker was in last year's final match racing regatta, which they won.
The loss of key strategist Adam Beashel might have upset the flow in the back of the boat.
Beashel injured his hand in the fleet racing regatta and is not expected to return for at least another couple of weeks.
While the conditions have been light and shifty over the past week, Team New Zealand haven't been particularly successful in putting their boat in the best position.
They missed a key wind shift in the opening beat against Luna Rossa which could have allowed them to sail ahead and put themselves in a position to erase the penalty they copped in the pre-start.
They were beaten by Mascalzone Latino after choosing the wrong side of the course on the first beat.
And they failed to match the tactical nous of Oracle who simply played the wind shifts better.
Team New Zealand strategist Ray Davies said it hadn't been his team's finest hour.
"We just have to focus on being in the top four then we start again. That is the goal from here.
"We just have to go back out there fighting and keep to the basics. We saw Oracle go down big time to the Spanish so it shows how variable it is out there ... we just have to keep chipping away."
Asked if he was concerned about NZL92's speed, especially against Oracle, Davies said their speed was fine.
