The New Zealand SailGP Team celebrate onboard. Photo: Photosport
New Zealand have completed a victorious double in the UAE, sailing to victory in Abu Dhabi to climb to second in the SailGP standings.
A month after winning in Dubai, skipper Peter Burling masterminded back-to-back victories in the Middle East to climb closer to series leaders Australia after seven of 13 legs.
It was their third win of the campaign, having won the opening round in Chicago in June.
Burling's crew masterminded light conditions to head off second-placed Spain and the United States in the three-boat final to snare the $US200,000 ($320,000) first prize.
Crucially, they enjoyed the strongest start to lead around the first mark and weren't challenged from that point, extending their lead throughout the race.
Burling said the result underlined his team's improvement since the start of the season as they closed within six points of series leaders Australia.
"We have been the ones who have just missed the final by a few points at previous events," he said.
"Finally winning the last two has been fun but it has been very stressful racing - just battling it out in the middle of the fleet all day in these light wind conditions, it's not easy."
Earlier in the day, Australia and Spain won the two fleet races, putting pressure on New Zealand who did enough in the second race to earn a berth in the final.
The eighth round is in Sydney on February 24-25.