New Zealand have made a solid start to the new SailGP campaign, sitting second behind Australia after the opening day of racing off Dubai.

Led by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, the Kiwis finished top of the table last season, but placed only third in the three-boat final, won by Spain off San Francisco in July.

There's a sense of unfinished business, as Burling and Tuke pursue one of the few titles to elude them during careers that have realised Olympic and America's Cup glory.

United States and Canada captured the first two races at Dubai, with Tom Slingsby's Aussies capping a consistent day for victory in the third.

The Black Foils compiled second, third and fifth to lie one point behind their trans-Tasman rivals, with Great Britain third five points further back.

"It was a really good start to the season for us," reflected Tuke. "We were just focused on the job at hand and what it takes to win in those conditions.

"Challenging, light winds are to be expected here in Dubai and we just hustled well, and got ourselves out of some tricky situations.

"Nice to be towards the front, with a solid foundation to build from and that's exactly what we have to do."

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The Kiwis have lost flight controller Andy Maloney to the new Mubadala Brazil outfit, but barely skipped a beat with newcomer Leo Takahashi.

Led by Martine Grael, the Brazilians were last in the opening race and sit second from the bottom of the table, ahead of just Italy, but enjoyed the most dramatic moment of the day, as they overtook four boats in the final metres to finish sixth in the third race.