Emirates Team New Zealand will take some catching both on the Great Sound and in the race for the “Auld Mug”.

The Kiwis are threatening to sail — and cycle — away with the America’s Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton, after condemning Oracle Team USA to four defeats of worrying similarity at the weekend.

Oracle Team USA, who started with a one-point lead having won the qualifying regatta, trail Team New Zealand 3-0 and need to make “serious changes” over the next five days, according to skipper Jimmy Spithill.

After all, they have not won a single leg of the Match, with Peter Burling, the Kiwis helmsman, and his team of “cyclors” looking superior in every aspect of racing.

One of many concerns for Oracle will be the dominance of Burling in the start box, an area where many believed the 26-year-old would struggle. Plagued with issues against Artemis Racing in the Challenger Play-off Finals, Burling looks to have solved those problems after winning all four starts against the more experienced Spithill.

It has been 17 years since the Kiwis won the America’s Cup and they are only four races away from returning the trophy to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland.

Finding solutions to sticky situations is Spithill’s forte, however.

The fiery Australian skippered Oracle to one of sport’s greatest comebacks when they fought back from 8-1 down to beat Team New Zealand in San Francisco in 2013.

He admits, however, that the next five days will make or break Oracle’s campaign.

“Everything will be put out on the table, nothing will be off limits, and over the next five days our incredible shore team will be looking at every aspect of our boat,” Spithill said.

“If we were forced to race day after day, we’d be in some serious trouble at the moment. This break coming up is a massive opportunity for us as a team to go away and regroup.

“We’ve been in a situation like this before and we’ve had less time. We’ve got five important days and we’ll be using every single hour of them. We have to respond.”

The Kiwis, complete with their radical, cycling grinding system and longer, kinked light-air foils, have simply been faster than Oracle in the light, shifty conditions.

So far the evidence suggests that the innovative, bold design of the Kiwis’ 50-foot flying machine is offering a glimpse into the future of America’s Cup racing.

That Oracle made a last-ditch switch to partial pedal power, with a single cycling station behind helmsman Spithill, certainly suggests as much.

And it is likely that Oracle’s technical wizards will be scrambling around their shed in Dockyard in a desperate attempt to find a winning formula before it is too late.

“Nothing will escape our eyes, I can guarantee that,” Spithill added. “Whether it’s system-related, appendage-related, sailing technique or strategy, we are going to look at absolutely everything.”

After racing had finished on Saturday, Spithill had promised his team would come out swinging in an effort to get back into the fight.

In truth, Oracle could barely lay a glove on Team New Zealand, who left their rivals with a heavily bloodied nose for the fourth successive race.

Next weekend, when racing resumes, Burling will look to deliver the knockout blow.

“We now have five days to keep pushing on and progressing because everyone in this team is hungry to keep on improving and learning,” Burling said.

“We know full well if we stand still, Jimmy and Oracle will catch us, so we have plenty of work on in the next five days.

“We’re happy to take those four wins because it is no secret that we are here to win the America’s Cup.

“We knew to do that we had to win eight races and so we have to keep on battling to ensure that is what we do.”