New Zealand steadily built its lead throughout the race.

It ended with Team New Zealand's Black Magic way ahead.

Black Magic wrested the early lead away from Italy's Luna Rossa on the windward first leg Sunday, led at every turning mark and won the opening race of the 30th America's Cup by 1 minute, 17 seconds.

It was another gorgeous, hot day on the Hauraki Gulf, with one big difference from Saturday -- wind. The opening race in the best-of-9 event had been postponed a day after the wind dropped to practically nothing.

So New Zealanders once again gave their heroes a rousing sendoff from Viaduct Basin, and this time got something to cheer for. The wind was blowing at about 14 knots at the start of just the second Cup defense outside the United States -- and the first-ever America's Cup without a U.S. yacht.

Then the Kiwis went out onto the six-leg, 18.5-mile course and picked up right where they left off on May 13, 1995, when they completed a 5-0 rout of Dennis Conner off San Diego.

"We did absolutely spotless," said Team New Zealand head Sir Peter Blake, who's not on the boat this time.

Mainsail trimmer Warwick Fleury agreed.

"Obviously there are some things you can improve on, but that was a pretty good performance, I think."

Race 2 is scheduled Tuesday.

The Kiwis didn't hold defender trials, saying their country was too small to support more than one team, so they had sailed only intrasquad races while Luna Rossa (Red Moon) emerged from a four-month challenger elimination series that involved 11 teams from seven countries.

Still, Black Magic skipper Russell Coutts and his experienced crew gave Luna Rossa's sailors an idea of how hard it's going to be to take the America's Cup back to Europe for the first time since 1851.

Black Magic proved to be fast upwind, and the sailors have a clear edge in experience. Coutts is in his third America's Cup, and 14 of the 16 crew aboard on Sunday sailed in the '95 regatta. Luna Rossa skipper Francesco de Angelis and all but one of his crew Sunday are Cup rookies. The Italians have three veterans of their 1992 campaign, but only grinder Massimo Galli was aboard Sunday.

"One advantage that we've had is we've been able to carry on from there with the same team in place," Fleury said. "We haven't had to go back and learn old tricks again."

Italy also reached the finals in 1992, with American skipper Paul Cayard, but lost 4-1 to Bill Koch's America3.

The Italians made a few mistakes. At the end of the fifth leg, they could be heard saying they thought they'd picked the wrong mainsail for the conditions.

"We expected the wind to go up on the first beat, and it didn't," tactician Torben Grael said. The wind never went above 12 knots the rest of the race.

Luna Rossa won the start by three seconds, but a wind shift to the right and poor tacking by the Italians, which Grael could be heard complaining about, allowed Black Magic to take control and round the first mark 22 seconds ahead.

De Angelis could have crossed Black Magic the first time the 75-foot yachts converged on opposite tacks, and thereby take the starboard tack advantage, but didn't. The next few times the boats came together, Black Magic had narrowed the gap, forcing Luna Rossa to dip to leeward. Coutts then forced de Angelis out to the port layline.

The Kiwis added 14 seconds on the downwind second leg and then got a nice wind shift going back upwind to push the lead to 63 seconds.

Since the trailing boat can block the breeze sailing downwind, Luna Rossa was able to cut Black Magic's lead to just 25 seconds turning onto the final lap around the course.