New Zealand have broken their Sail GP drought with a win in the final of the Plymouth regatta in England on Monday (NZ time).
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke led the Kiwi crew to a dominant opening day of racing, where they earned a win and two second-place finishes.
They stumbled to begin day two, when an early penalty saw them finish fifth in the first race, before they bounced back to win the second and qualify for the three-team podium race final against Australia and Denmark.
New Zealand were the fastest off the mark in the final, before Denmark battled back to claim the lead at the second gate.
Helmsman Burling then engineered the race-sealing manoeuvre to regain a lead they never relinquished, as they secured the top of the podium for the first time in 11 events to date.
"The group's been sailing incredibly well all weekend," said Burling, after their win. "I've been pleased with the way we've been sailing and improving.
"I think a lot of people would have expected this of us by now, and it's great to have put together a good weekend and put in such a dominant performance.
"We have been working really hard to improve and I think we truly proved that today, we are just so much more comfortable with the boat now than we have been."
The victory also snapped Burling and Tuke's former Team NZ cohort Tom Slingsby's dominance aboard the Australian boat, which had won the last five regattas.
"It's been a really big push to get to this moment but we've chipped away," NZ trimmer Blair Tuke said.
"Three race wins out of the weekend, it's been a pretty dominant one so we're absolutely stoked."
After three of 11 events, New Zealand now sit third on the overall ladder with 22 points behind Great Britain (24) and Australia (29).
