June 26, 2016
2 minutes reading time
27-0 with 27 knockouts
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) will start the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition with a perfect record in the quadrennial after winning gold at Kieler-Woche, their last event before the summer showcase.
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) will start the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition with a perfect record in the quadrennial after winning gold at Kieler-Woche, their last event before the summer showcase.
After their silver medal performance at London 2012, Burling and Tuke have been mainstays on the top step of the podium, winning 27 regattas in a row, delivering consecutive knockout blows to their rivals ahead of Rio 2016.
Going into Sunday’s Medal Race in Kiel, Germany, the Kiwis had a 26 point lead rendering them unassailable and they went on to take the title.
Burling said, “It’s obviously nice to take another victory in some pretty challenging conditions here in Kiel. But for us it’s our last big event before Rio so it’s really pleasing to take the win.”
Not everyone they’ll face this August in Rio was racing, but a strong fleet totaling close to 40 boats battled it out over 14 races. Burling and Tuke won six of those races.
Asked whether there is any room for improvement left in the final build-up to Rio, Tuke said, “We’ll take some learnings out of this week – we had a really challenging week it was nice today that we finally got some good breeze with flat water offshore but predominantly it’s been quite light and tricky so just like we’re going to see in Rio so we’re happy we came here, it’s been some great practice. Lots of learnings to take forward, as always.”
Burling commented on the fact that no regatta victory comes easily, “It’s really challenging every time we win and it’s something that’s why we race the 49er you know, if you get it wrong you get bad results. We made it tough for ourselves getting an OCS early on in the week. We’re really happy to bounce back from that and make it a good event.”
Tuke says that while they’ll celebrate this win, they remain focused on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “We’ll enjoy it. Hamish our coach is here. It’s onwards and upwards towards Rio for us, but no we will celebrate this. It’s always good to take a regatta win and it’s been a great week here in Kiel – we’ve enjoyed our time, great hospitality and it’s another stepping stone for us looking forwards towards Rio.”
Burling and Tuke are part of a 12-strong team of New Zealand sailors who are now in the final countdown to Rio 2016. Laser representative Sam Meech will be the first of the New Zealand Olympic Team sailors to start racing on 8 August.