NZL Sailing Team- NZL 49er on course for the 2012 Olympics
by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke on 22 Dec 2011
Event Media
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke report on their performance in Perth in the Olympic 49er at the 2011 World Championships and the announcement on Wednesday by the NZ Olympic Committee
Wow an amazing week!
A Silver medal at the 49er World Championships in Perth ... then yesterday being announced as the first members of the NZ Olympic Team for London 2012. A very proud moment for us.
The ISAF worlds in Perth were a huge event – all the Olympic sailing classes at the same venue for the Worlds which was our first chance to qualify the 49er class for London 2012.
For us, sixty-seven 49ers from 27 countries competed, with just the top 14 countries plus GBR as host nation able to qualify for London 2012 at this event.
We competed in the second week with the predicted 'Fremantle Doctor' sea breeze only arriving for a couple of days – instead we had tricky offshore conditions most of the time.
In a high scoring regatta we qualified for the medal race in fourth. The medal race was held in a beautiful 15 knot breeze close to shore with a grandstand and 1000’s of people cheering – second in this race moved us up to SILVER in our 49er class rounding off a very encouraging year.
We are looking forward to the next 7 months. A few weeks off over Christmas/New Year to recharge the batteries then we will be back into training. Many valuable lessons have been learnt this year and now we will work on our weaknesses, refine our strengths and push forward towards London 2012.
A very special thank you to our families, friends and supporters. We hope we have done you all proud. Thank you.
For those with facebook our campaign page is ... 'Pete and Blair sailing'.
Lots more photos and links to video footage can be found here.
We hope you have an enjoyable, relaxing Christmas
Cheers Peter and Blair
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