New Zealand lurk one point back in second on the standings, after the opening day of racing at Canada Sail Grand Prix at Halifax.
The Black Foils could not win any of the three races contested, but trail only Great Britain on a tight table, where the top five sit within three points.
Driver Peter Burling had his boat Amokura in fifth for the opening race, won by Spain, and second behind Denmark in the second, before rounding off his account with fourth, behind winners Australia, in the third.
"In the first half of the first race, we were really struggling to find our feet and we made a few mistakes," said Burling. "It was good to get back into it by the end and put together a couple of solid ones to finish.
"It felt like we left a whole heap of points out there, but it was nice to get off the startline reasonably well. Coming out of today, we're really happy that we put together three solid scores to be at the right end of the leaderboard going into tomorrow."
The British also could not win, but were the most consistent performers throughout, with third-fifth-second across the three races.
The fleet sails two more races on Monday (NZ time), before the three-boat final.
"It was puffy and shifty, and very hard to find the stability to execute manoeuvres," said Burling. "We had some good ones and some shockers.
"It was one of those days where you needed to be in the pressure and go as fast as you could through the lulls.
"We’re here to try and win, for sure. You can't win it on day one, but you can lose it on the first day."
New Zealand currently lead the series standings, from defending champions Australia.
