The young Peter Burling proved a master on the wheel of the Emirates Team New Zealand catamaran.

Team New Zealand ace Peter Burling was under orders to bluff his abilities in the starting box before his demolition of Jimmy Spithill in the America's Cup match.

It proved a masterstroke. Burling's apparent rapid development in this key area was central to Emirates Team New Zealand's 7-1 win over Oracle Team USA to win back the Auld Mug on Bermuda's Great Sound.

Spithill's aggression and reputation as the best starter in the business always loomed as a worry for the Kiwis heading into the match, especially given Burling's patchy starting form during the round-robin phase of the regatta.

GILES MARTIN-RAGET ACEA/2017 Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling waves at Team USA rival Jimmy Spithill in a sailing send-off as the Kiwis sped away after winning the start box duel in race eight of the America's Cup final.

There were signs of improvement from the 26-year-old Burling in the Challengers final against Sweden's Artemis Racing but nothing like the dominance he suddenly displayed to destroy Spithill at his own game.

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Burling won the starts 7-2 (remember there were actually nine races after the Kiwis were forced to enter the match at -1).

Team New Zealand principal Matteo de Nora revealed the team had purposely hidden Burling's starting box talents.

"He was always stronger during the start than what he was showing," de Nora said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa.

GILLES MARTIN-RAGET /ACEA 2017 Jimmy Spithill and Peter Burling shake hands after the America's Cup match ended with an Emirates Team New Zealand victory.

"He was told not to be too impetuous".

With a fast boat, the Kiwis had the luxury of regularly beating opponents in a game of catchup during the opening stages of the regatta, hiding Burling's true talents.

But they were also eager to maximise a remarkable statistic for the final. Team New Zealand's boat never lost a race once it got to the opening mark first.

The team's coaches highlighted this as an area to concentrate on for Burling, whose match-racing experience was virtually non-existent before heading to Bermuda with his stunning Olympic success based on fleet racing in the 49er skiffs.

The gifted Burling showed his ability to learn quickly as he mastered the arts of the cat and mouse plays in the two minutes leading up to the starting gun in Cup races.

Burling's coup de grace of Spithill came in the penultimate race when he brilliantly overlapped and hooked the double-Cup winner, leaving the American boat stalled as "Pistol" Pete pulled the trigger and accelerated off for an incredible 14s advantage over the start line.

A bit like the never-ending updates of the remarkable Kiwi boat, it was a case of keeping a sailing trick up their sleeve for the money moment of the Cup final.

De Nora praised Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton for opting for radical change and innovation in the wake of the 2013 loss.

That included signing young talent like Burling who would eventually replace Dean Barker at the helm.

De Nora had an interesting twist on the decision to remove Barker from the wheel and suggested the Kiwi had shopped around when he realised his time was up.

Asked if Barker, who had lost his two previous Cup finals, was fired, de Nora shot back: "No, it is not what happened. He was never fired. We told him that we didn't want him as helmsman, but we wanted him to have another role, for instance, as a coach. He said that he wanted to be a helmsman.

"What didn't go well is that before leaving the team he already talked with others and he should have not said that we sent him away, when he was already looking for another job".

Barker, on the invitation of the Cup holders desperate to get an Asian syndicate involved to boost the low numbers at the Cup, headed off to front Team Japan, both as CEO and skipper.

Oracle used Team Japan as a sister syndicate to develop design and technology.

"Having two boats helps testing the hull. And we didn't have this opportunity. Team Japan was not only a sparring partner, but it helped testing technology and the equipment," de Nora said.

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