Emirates Team New Zealand will make the long journey back home with their overall lead of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series intact.

The Kiwis got off to a poor start in yesterday’s first race and then suffered another setback when they were hit with a penalty for failing to stay clear of Artemis Racing at the weather mark.

However, they bounced back with a second and a first in the remaining two races which enabled them to put more distance between themselves and the chasing pack in the overall series points standings.

“We are a little bit disappointed we didn’t take the win here but we are absolutely stoked to extend our World Series lead,” Peter Burling, the team helmsman, said.

“It was a really tough start to the day for us. But to come back like we did and get a second and then win that last race like we did was really pleasing.

“We are all about going out and performing under pressure.

“That’s what we did in that last race and we’re really happy to have managed to extend our World Series lead.”

The Kiwis now lead the overall World Series standings by a ten-point margin over nearest rival Oracle Team USA who climbed one spot from third to second.

Jimmy Spithill, the Oracle skipper, admitted it was disappointing not to have secured the regatta victory on the team’s homecoming.

“Obviously we are disappointed and felt we could have won this event,” he said. “We just let it slip through our fingers with too many mistakes in the last race.”

Slipping from second to third in the overall World Series standings was Land Rover BAR who were denied a spot on the podium for the first time.

The British challenger led the fleet towards the end of the second windward beat in the second race before suffering setbacks that cost them the race.

“We made a bad tactical decision there and also lost control of our starboard daggerboard,” Ben Ainslie, the Land Rover BAR skipper, said.

“We couldn’t foil downwind properly so it dropped us from first to last and that was the series for us, which was very frustrating.”