Despite adding another 17 medals to their haul, New Zealand's surf lifesaving team had to be content with the runners-up spot at the Sanyo Bussan International Lifesaving Cup in Japan.

New Zealand posted a three point lead over Australia at the end of day one on Aoshima Beach in Miyazaki, but that advantage had turned into a four point deficit by the end of day two.

Max Beattie and Cory Taylor at Aoshima Beach. Photo: Supplied.

'The team raced with confidence and intelligence across the competition,” says New Zealand team coach Jason Pocock.

'All of the athletes really stood up. It is amazing to think we were the only team of eight athletes, rather than 10.”

Going into the second day of the competition, team NZ were primarily focussing on what got them through the first day; clear race plans and good decision making, says Jason.

The Aussies narrowly took top spot with 650 points, followed by the Kiwis with 646 points and a strong Japanese team in third with 551 points.

They were followed by the Japan Youth team with 475 points, Canada (416), Hong Kong (324) and Chinese Taipei (104).

Kiwi gold medals on day two were won by Mairangi Bay's Danielle McKenzie and Midway's Cory Taylor in their respective board races. The pair added to that by also taking out the women's and men's iron.

The women's board rescue saw Japan take their first win of the competition with the Kiwis coming in second. The men's board rescue also saw New Zealand's boys take silver.

In the surf races, St Clair's Carina Doyle took her second individual silver of the competition with Piha's Hannah Williams in sixth. In the men's, Omanu's Max Beattie took the silver with Papamoa's Ben Johnston coming in seventh.

On the beach, Fitzroy's Zoe Hobbs and Mairangi Bay's Jake Hurley replicated their efforts on day one, taking gold in the women's and men's beach sprints.

Also replicating the efforts of day one, both the men's and women's teams won their beach relay events.

In some of the final events of the day, Hurley took the day's first bronze in the men's beach flags and both the men's and women's taplin teams grabbed silver.

The women added another bronze to the tally in the tube, with the boys taking out the final tube race.

Assistant team manager Steve Vaughan says it's been a great few days for the team in Japan and they all performed incredibly well.

'We're extremely proud of their achievements,” says Steve.

The athletes, along with Pocock, Vaughan and Youth Team coach Jonelle Quane, depart Japan today and arrive back in Auckland on Wednesday.

To keep up to date with the team's journey, visit the High Performance Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/slsnzhp. They can also be followed on Twitter via: @slsnzhp