Extreme Sailing Series- ETNZ's Burling and Tuke back on deck in Nice

by Warren Douglas, Emirates Team NZ on 2 Oct 2014 It’s back to work for Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. The holiday’s over.

They took a week off after their win at the 49er world championships in Spain and now they’re at Nice, France, for another hectic few days at the Extreme Sailing Series.

And the pressure is on to maintain the momentum gained by Dean Barker and crew at the Istanbul round of the series in September.

Barker won that regatta, lifting the team back to third place on the series’ 2014 leader board.



Burling and Tuke, whose last regatta in the Extreme 40 was at St Petersburg in June, were feeling 'a little rusty' and out of touch with the unique Extreme 40 style of racing.

Overnight they were head-first into practice day, making the most of every minute on the water. First the Emirates Team New Zealand chase boat ran some races against Alinghi. Other boats joined in until the race committee started official practice in the afternoon.

The committee ran six races until the breeze, never more than 6-7 knots faded completely.

After a slow start, the Emirates Team New Zealand crew (Burling, Tuke, Glenn Ashby, Jeremy Lomas and Edwin Delaat) began to get into the groove and performance improved throughout the session.

The fleet will have to cope with light breeze forecast for the rest of the week.

Peter Burling: 'There will be a light offshore breeze in the morning, followed by three or four hours of calm before a light onshore breeze fills in. We are not expecting more than five knots at any time and will have to adapt techniques to suit.

'In conditions like that it’s very easy to go from the front to the back of the fleet .... it will be a case of trying to get off the start line cleanly and take any opportunity for a gain that occurs.'

Racing at Nice starts on Thursday and concludes on Sunday.

Extreme Sailing Series 2014 - overall standings after six of eight regattas
1st Alinghi (SUI) 55 points.
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 54 points.
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 43 points.
4th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 36 points.
5th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 29 points.
6th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 24 points.
7th Oman Air (OMA) 23 points.
8th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 23 points.
9th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 23 points.
10th Groupama sailing team (FRA) 20 points.
11th GAC Pindar (AUS) 6 points.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have been nominated for International Sailing Federation’s the World Sailor of the Year award.

Their nomination reads: 'New Zealand's Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have been a class above the rest in the 49er demonstrating exceptional teamwork, athletic prowess and drive that cannot be rivalled. Over the nomination period the Kiwis brushed aside their challengers with ease, finding an edge that many can only dream of. They took their first world title in Marseille, France in 2013 and in their defence of the title at the Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds they crushed the opposition, sealing gold with a 46 point margin.'

49er:
2013 World Champions
2014 World Champions
2014 Open European Champions
11 consecutive 49er regatta victories.

Other nominations are: Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS); Bill Hardesty (USA); Giles Scott (GBR); James Spithill (AUS).