NZ Olympic 49er medalists Peter Burling and Blair Tuke at Europeans

by Richard Burling on 2 Jul 2013
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, Silver medalists at the 2012 Olympics in the Olympic Skiff (49er) report

We are currently in Aarhus, Denmark. With final preparations being completed we are ready to roll, competing in the 49er European Championships which start tomorrow 2nd July – our first international regatta since the 2012 Olympics.

Regatta link http://49er.org/event/2013-europeans/!click_here and interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c_q-86CtWI!click_here

We’ve had no problem keeping busy since our last 49er regatta in NZ (Sail Auckland in Feb).

Peter has been back at university doing another 3 papers towards his Engineering degree.

We have also been racing in the Extreme 40 catamaran World Series for Team Korea. Pete was helm and Blair tactician in a 5 person crew. We raced in light winds in very confined spaces. Muscat, Oman was the first stop and then in Singapore in the centre of town on a reservoir and in Qingdao beside/inside the Olympic marina. This was Pete’s first time back in Qingdao since the 2008 China Olympics in the 470.

We have found time to sail the 49er with training sessions in our home towns of Tauranga and Kerikeri. Some beautiful winter weather meant we were able to get out fishing and to use the world renowned mountain bike tracks in Rotorua. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3EHVyJuXTo!click_here

Blair raced 1150nm in the famous Auckland to Fiji Race on V5 - a canting keel 52’ yacht. First mono and reaching speeds of 30 knots was a real thrill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSIghXOOqxw!click_here

Exciting times are awaiting us – after Aarhus we head home, then in early August we are off to San Francisco for the Red Bull Youth America’s cup in AC45’s – in September we compete at the 49er World Champs in Marseille. Pete then goes to the Moth worlds in Hawaii ... more about these later.

We will update at the end of this event (49er Europeans)

Our facebook Pete and Blair sailing is now up and running again plus our athlete pages Peter Burling and Blair Tuke

Cheers, Pete and Blair