Old rival Jimmy Spithill has denied New Zealand a hat-trick of Sail Grand Prix victories, denying them overall honours at Saint-Tropez, France.
But helmsman Peter Burling has brought the Kiwis within a point of championship leaders and two-time winners Australia, with six regattas remaining in the international series.
New Zealand qualified for the final on top of the fleet-race standings, with two wins, a second and fourth, holding off the Americans, who were penalised eight points for a racing incident.
Significantly, Burling had to settle for second behind America's Cup adversary Spithill in the fourth and final fleet contest, before facing USA and Ben Ainslie's Great Britain for the podium race. Australia finished seventh to fall out of contention.
In the final, New Zealand were early at the start-line and served an early penalty that saw them trail to the first mark. When the British fell off their foils, USA assumed control in light airs, with all three boats struggling for speed.
The Americans never conceded the advantage, although the lack of wind meant they were never truly secure, as they crawled across the finish-line, with the Kiwis next. Spithill was quick to declare this the start of a comeback for his team, currently languishing in seventh overall.
"There's been a lot of noise and a lot of narrative outside the team about whether we should keep making different changes and about [bringing in] different people," he said. "I'm really proud of the team, because we just didn't let any of that stuff affect us."
After regatta wins at Plymouth and Copenhagen, their second placing at Saint Tropez has continued New Zealand's momentum in the championship, as they close on the Aussies.
Burling drew the ire of Australian counterpart Tom Slingsby with an audacious move in the opening race that forced the champions to crash within sight of the finish-line and victory, a further sign that the Kiwi had finally found his racing mojo in these boats.
"It was definitely not good to get OCS [on course side]," he said. "Everyone knows how important it is in those finals to lead at mark one.
"We spent a lot of time trying to get rid of the penalty after that, which was a little bit frustrating.
"As a group, we're really proud. We're really happy with the way we sailed yesterday, getting a couple of wins on the board.
"Pretty happy with the way we sailed the first race today. It wasn't our finest hour, but we were happy with the way we performed in the final."
Next stop for the SailGP circuit is Cadiz, Spain, from September 24/25, with Christchurch scheduled to host the 10th and penultimate event on March 18/19.
