In a thrilling winner-take-all final race, Emirates Team New Zealand unhooked themselves from a starting buoy to win the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series New York yesterday.

Victory cemented Team New Zealand’s place at the top of the standings on 244 points, with Oracle Team USA, the America’s Cup defender, close behind on 236, with Land Rover BAR in third on 227.

Another large crowd, estimated at 100,000, turned out on a sunny day and was treated to some unpredictable racing.

No lead was ever safe yesterday as the wind shifted through wide arcs from the west to the north and ranged anywhere from five to 20 knots.

“It was one of those series where everyone had good luck and bad luck, but we got our good luck at the end of the regatta,” Glenn Ashby, the Team New Zealand skipper, said. “It was exciting and crazy at the same time. Today it was important to keep your cool and stay focused.”

New Zealand led by Ashby and Peter Burling, the world sailor of the year and Red Bull Youth America’s Cup champion helmsman, were literally dead in the water at the start of the third race.

Crewman Blair Tuke had to jump in the water to unhook the starting buoy’s anchor line from the catamaran’s rudder. Making matters worse, the port hull was punctured by the buoy and water was leaking into the hull throughout the race.

“We saw the buoy coming at us with about 20 seconds to go,” said Ashby. “It wasn’t ideal but we were lucky in the end.”

The team’s luck came full circle on the next-to-last leg. They rounded the last windward mark in fifth place, about 42 seconds behind leading SoftBank Team Japan. But as all the crews began the downwind leg they sailed into a patch of no wind that engulfed the course.

As the leg was perpendicular to the southerly flowing current, some of the crews were being swept over the course boundary. Land Rover BAR, Groupama Team France and SoftBank Team Japan all were penalised for crossing the boundary in the current.

Team New Zealand, further behind, held in the middle of the course and when the wind filled in the Kiwis took off on their hydrofoils at 16 to 20 knots boatspeed, leaving the rest of the fleet gasping in disbelief.

At one point during the final race Oracle Team USA looked to be in position to win. Jimmy Spithill and crew won the start and led around the first two mark roundings.

However, Dean Barker’s SoftBank Team Japan grabbed the lead by working the right side of the course while Oracle struggled on the right side. In the end the reigning America’s Cup champions placed second in the race and second for the series.

“The crowd was insane,” said Spithill. “Today was great for the fans. In these conditions you have to roll with the punches and keep fighting. We wanted to win but we’ll take the second place. The Kiwis got a Hail Mary there at the end, but you have to take your hat off to them and congratulate them.”

Third place in the regatta went to Franck Cammas’s Groupama Team France, winner of the second race. SoftBank Team Japan placed fourth, Land Rover BAR fifth and Artemis Racing sixth.

Illustrating just how challenging the day was on the short, confined racecourse, Nathan Outteridge’s Artemis crew won the first race going away, but was then sixth in the following races.

“We got a little bit of luck in the first race and managed to hold on, but we had some terrible moments in the last two races,” Outteridge said. “You can’t get people to come watch sailing if you don’t bring it to them.

“That’s what we’ve done here. When the America’s Cup is in Bermuda next year, in super high-tech boats, we’ll get some amazing racing.”

Yesterday’s racing was in stark contrast to Saturday when a light wind meant that no official racing was possible.

Instead, the teams finally got a substitute race completed after several abandoned starts.

SoftBank Team Japan triumphed, their first win of the series, although the scores would only have counted if there had been no racing yesterday.

Artemis Racing came in second, followed by Groupama Team France, Oracle Team USA, Land Rover BAR and overall series leaders Emirates Team New Zealand.

Dean Barker, the SoftBank skipper, summed up the race that saw his team grab the lead at the start and capitalise throughout the five-leg course.

“We had a good start, got off the line early and had a good first reach and then from there consolidated,” he said. “Good for the team to have a race win and we’re obviously really happy with the progress we’re making.”

The race marks a significant milestone for the team rewarding the intense training regimen they have endured the past several months in Bermuda as they prepare for the 2017 America’s Cup

“We definitely feel like we’ve been making good progress,” Barker said. “We’ve been working hard on all our communication, teamwork, and it feels like it’s working well. Next year is when it counts, so if we can continue to make good gains then I’m really happy.”

The world series now moves on to Chicago for the next event, which will run from June 10 to 12.