New Zealand sailing stars Burling, Tuke, to lead SailGP team

Defending America’s Cup champions and Olympic gold medalists Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have launched a New Zealand team in SailGP global league.

Two of world's most accomplished sailors, Burling and Tuke will serve as co-CEOs of Kiwi team that will join circuit during rescheduled second season next year.

Season 2, which was postponed due to coronavirus pandemic, will begin April 17-18 in San Francisco. That will be a month after Burling and Tuke le Emirates Team New Zealand in defense of America’s Cup in a match set for March 6-21 in Auckland, and t quite four months before y try to repeat as Olympic champions in high-performance 49er class.

SailGP was co-founded by New Zealander Russell Coutts and American tech billionaire Larry Ellison after ir Oracle Team USA was routed by Emirates Team New Zealand in 2017 America’s Cup in Bermuda.

Tuke said he and Burling have been impressed with SailGP, which has quickly built a roster of top former and current America’s Cup and Olympic sailors.

first season was won by Australian team heed by Tom Slingsby, a former America’s Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist. British sailing star Ben Ainslie dominated in his debut in Sydney in opening regatta of Season 2 in late February. That result was voided after pandemic forced postponement of rest of season. Ainslie is a former America’s Cup champion and is most decorated Olympic sailor of all time, with four gold medals and one silver. Ainslie les America’s Cup challenger INEOS Team UK.

“ racing is about as good as you can get and will really complement our America’s Cup sailing as well as our Olympic sailing,” Tuke said in a phone interview from Auckland, where Kiwi SailGP team was anunced. “For us and our careers, to step up and le team as co-CEOs, we’re looking forward to challenge of building team from ground up.”

New Zealand SailGP team will partner with Live Ocean Racing, charity Tuke and Burling founded. “We want to take our mess of ocean restoration and protection to global st, which is very important,” Tuke said.

Besides sporting tritional silver fern, Tuke said SailGP boat that will represent ir island nation will have a blue color scheme.

Tuke said he and Burling have blessing of Emirates Team New Zealand and New Zealand Olympic officials.

Providing re are t furr postponements in various events, Tuke and Burling will have a full 2021.

“We are going to be busy, but we’ve put a lot of time into how this is set up,” Tuke said. “We’re really confident all different sailing we’re doing is complementing each or. trick was to set it up so we have right team around us to make sure we can concentrate on what we do best.

“As athletes, you want to push yourself against best,” he said.

Burling and Tuke h a dominating run to gold medal in 49er class in 2016 Olympics, upgring from silver y won in 2012. tred places on podium with Australians Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, who took gold in 2012 and silver in 2016. Outteridge skippers Japanese SailGP team and Jensen is on British team.

h ar dominating performance in leing Kiwis to America's Cup win following year.

Coutts and Ellison set up SailGP to complement America’s Cup, t compete with it.

“We set out to create something that would attract best sailors in world,” Coutts said by phone from Auckland. “This fills a void. Sailing didn’t have an annual championship, certainly t with national teams that fans could follow on a monthly basis. truth is, we h a great roster before, and w this has ded ermously to it. I expect competition to become more fierce.”

SailGP is contested in fast, foiling 50-foot catamarans called F50s that are similar to but more powerful than ones that were used in 2017 America’s Cup.

Im credits: AP