New Zealand won Sunday's third America's Cup against Britain to take a 3-1 lead in the series of first-to-7, following a close collision between both teams before the race.

Peter Burling and his New Zealand team penalized Ben Ainslie for failing to respond to a close-quarters aggressive manoeuvre performed by Peter Burling in the pre-start.

Burling laughed on the America's Cup broadcast live immediately following the finish of the race in Barcelona.

Burling stated that the New Zealand team has been "working on small bits and pieces" to prepare to defend the America's Cup in opposition to Britain, who won the right challenge them.

The Kiwi skipper, 33, said that it was "great" to finally execute the move in a race and make it count.

The Kiwis gained an early advantage over Britain after Britain dropped 75 metres behind them when they crossed the line.

Ainslie stated that the British were penalized for the incident. The British were the boat to give away under the rules.

The British, despite being close to overtaking the New Zealanders during an early tacking duels, were unable get past them and they won the race convincingly.

Ainslie said that Britain had a long way to go in this competition, which it has never won during the 173 years of "Auld Mug's" history and hasn't challenged in over 60 years.

Ainslie told reporters that they must keep on pushing ahead for the second race, scheduled to take place later in the day. (Reporting and editing by Emelia Sithole Matarise and Pritha Sakar; Alexander Smith is the reporter.

(source: Reuters)