Sailing: Kiwi duo grab 20th victory

Peter Burling, right, and Northland's Blair Tuke.

Peter Burling and Northland's Blair Tuke have secured another victory in the 49er class, taking out the South American 49er Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The victory comes just days before the outcome of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, which Burling and Tuke are up for with five other finalists.

Placed third overall with a six-point gap to close heading into the final day of the four-day regatta, the possibility of Burling and Tuke achieving their phenomenal 20th consecutive regatta win looked in danger.

However, three single-digit finishes to open the day saw them start the medal race with the overall lead and follow on for the win.

"We'd just unpacked a new boat and spent some time setting it up, one day on the water and then it was pretty much straight into the first race," Burling said.

Featuring the world's best crews in the Olympic skiff classes, the regatta acted as a build up for this month's 49er and 49erFX World Championships at the same venue.

"It is a different place to sail and a really challenging place to sail. The water is close to fresh water, and there's quite a lot of mud in it. It's really hard to read the puffs - but really rewarding when you get it right.

"For us this regatta was about building and learning with the main event still to come.

"We're really happy with how we've been going this week, but we have some more work to do," Burling said.

Racing for the 49er and 49erFX World Championships gets under way next Monday.