Team New Zealand make it three-in-a-row

LATEST: Team New Zealand maintained their unbeaten record today to go to the head of the fleet in the Louis Vuitton Trophy yachting regatta off Auckland.

Skipper Dean Barker and his crew made it three wins from three races after Britain's Team Origin retired with a broken spinnaker pole midway through what had been a tight battle.

It was the second day that Team NZ had come from behind to win after gear failure on the opposition boat.

They ended today with the only 100 percent record among the eight teams, after previously unbeaten Azzurra of Italy went down to France's All4One by 46 seconds.

The match between Team NZ and Team Origin had been highly anticipated, with Barker up against triple Olympic champion Ben Ainslie, Team NZ's back-up helmsman in their last America's Cup campaign.

The pair had also faced off in the final of the Auckland Match Racing regatta last weekend, with Barker winning 2-0.

In a race sailed in 14 to 18-knot winds, the key moment came at the end of leg two as the yachts went through the leeward gate, with Origin in front but Team NZ right behind and pressing hard.

"We forced Team Origin into a tough manoeuvre," Barker said.

"They made one mistake, broke the spinnaker pole and then couldn't get their jib up. When the pressure's really on in these situations it's very hard to recover."

Team NZ were able to do their rounding without incident, while the British were forced to retired.

Origin had led by 14sec at the end of a first beat that featured a fierce tacking duel.

But Team NZ began to eat away at the deficit on the downwind leg, before their opponents made their error as they prepared to drop their spinnaker.

"It was a bit of mess," Ainslie admitted.

"Things change very quickly at the bottom, but a big shift made us change the call and there wasn't enough time for the guys to react."

The battle between Azzurra and All4One contained plenty of protests, keeping the race umpires busy.

All4One's better sail handling as the wind picked up to 20 knots helped them go clear over the second half of the race.

There were wins also for Italy's Mascalzone Latino over France's Aleph, and Swedish entry Artemis over Russia's Synergy.

Artemis' victory took them level with Azzurra and All4One in the standings, one point behind Team NZ.

- NZPA