New Zealand won the America's Cup on Monday with a 4-0 victory over Britain. The crews were locked in a close tacking duel in the early stages and made some close passes during the first downwind leg.

New Zealand's crew managed to squeeze a little more performance from their AC75 monohull, "Taihoro". This put pressure on Britain in the most competitive race of the series so far.

Ainslie’s British team protested the New Zealanders as they sped downwind, still stinging from the decision of an umpire that was against them in the prestart on Sunday.

Ainslie told the America's Cup broadcast live after the single race on Monday that they could still recover from the situation.

He said a reserve day would be a great opportunity for the crew to find ways to reduce the performance gap that they saw against New Zealand's vessel.

Dylan Fletcher, Ainslie’s co-helm said that he was disappointed with the umpires’ decision on Sunday. However, the team will "take a close look" to see where it can make the small gains necessary to win.

Peter Burling, New Zealand's relaxed skipper, said that every win was "a very nice one". He added that the race felt more like a boat race on Monday as opposed to the day before when he had expressed concerns over a near-crash during the pre-start.

Nathan Outteridge, co-helm of New Zealand's AC75 foiling boat said: "We have made progress with the performance of our boat." The AC75 is manoeuvring at high speed and in a clean manner. (Reporting and editing by Ken Ferris; Alexander Smith)

(source: Reuters)