If today's racing if anything to go by, the 36th America's Cup is going to be an incredibly thrilling series.
Luna Rossa struck back with a victory of their own after a heart-pumping neck-and-neck finish in the second race of the America's Cup this afternoon.
The roles were reversed in the prestart of race two, as Team New Zealand chased Luna Rossa through the box.
The Italians pulled them wide to the course boundary, before the two teams split in two directions.
They converged back in the middle of the box as the clock ticked down, with Luna Rossa taking a slender advantage across the start line.
A split tack followed, as Team New Zealand sought to prove they could come-from-behind to secure victory.
The Kiwis refused to let the Italian team pull away on the upward leg, maintaining significant pressure as the teams raced towards the first gate.
However, perhaps thinking too far ahead of themselves, Team New Zealand performed a sloppy manoeuvre around the first gate, allowing Luna Rossa a 13 second advantage and some breathing space.
The downward leg was always going to be an important indicator on whether Team New Zealand could overturn the deficit, having shown their strength downwind in the opening race, but the Kiwis were only able to make a small dent, cutting the Italian lead to 12 seconds through two legs.
A calm Jimmy Spithill knew all he had to do was keep the Kiwis at bay, and began to focus on defending their early advantage.
Meanwhile, the pressure appeared to be getting to Team New Zealand, as another poor tack near the third gate dug themselves further into a hole.
But the Kiwis refused to die wondering, throwing everything they had at the Italians in the final two legs.
It was remarkable sailing from helmsman Peter Burling after the race seemed dead and gone at the halfway mark, but Team New Zealand halved the 24 second deficit on the penultimate leg, to make the final leg a thrilling drag race downwind.
With less than 500m to go, Team New Zealand had reduced the lead to 80m, but it was not quite enough, Luna Rossa taking a narrow seven second victory.
Spithill said his side were bouyed by the victory and could not wait for the next two races on Friday.
"I thought the boys sailed a great race," Spithill said of his Luna Rossa side.
"It was a good sign of strength I thought to bounce back after that first one.
"It’s great to be competitive, it’s great to get a race win and we’re looking forward to [Friday]."
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