They're all but assured of a spot in Monday's million-dollar winner-take-all Sail GP grand final.
But New Zealand will have to be much better than they were on Sunday with defending champions Australia and Great Britain dominating on the open day in San Francisco Bay.
It was a solid finish to an otherwise forgettable day for Peter Burling's team. In the first three races of San Francisco, the Kiwis finished fourth, seventh and third.
"[I'm] happy to have a day like that today, rather than tomorrow," said Burling. "It now gives us a chance to go back and have a good review over everything that went on and hopefully go into that final in good shape."
They'll need to be at their very best because the teams they'll meet in the final were on fire.
"There's a million dollars on the line for first place, and second place gets zero," said Australia driver Tom Slingsby.
And it seems like Sir Ben Ainslie got the memo, taking a win and two podiums.
"What a day," he said. "It was an interesting day, full on."
The day certainly had drama, as France almost went over. Australia were also lucky to come away unscathed after a run-in with Canada
"[It was] a bit too close for a team that's just trying to not get any damage," said Slingsby.
There are plenty of Kiwis on the ground in San Francisco, hoping the likes of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke can get to the million-dollar race.
Not that they're letting the stakes get to them.
"I don't think we were feeling pressure," said Burling. "I just think it's quite a different kind of condition and set-up to what we've been racing in recently."
That leaves plenty of homework to be done, while their rivals ride a wave of form.
"We were able to sail through the fleet a couple of times today, which is a nice skill to have," said Slingsby.
"We really want this, and we'll fight for it," added Sir Ben.
But New Zealand are hoping they'll be the ones to deliver the knockout blow when it matters most tomorrow.
