Sports awards: Carving gets the runaround

Paul Roukchan, the Konica Minolta area sales manager for Northland, presents Blair Tuke with the carving. Photo / Langwoods Photography

Blair Tuke was getting some funny looks over the weekend driving around Auckland with a huge Maori carving strapped into his car's passenger seat.

It is a measure of how busy the Northland Sportsperson of the Year is that after receiving his award at Kensington Stadium on Friday night, Tuke didn't make it home to his apartment until Sunday evening after two days on the water competing at the Sir Peter Blake Torbay regatta.

"It's been a busy weekend sailing my Moth so I've still got the carving strapped in beside me and, I can tell by some of the looks I've been getting, it makes for a pretty interesting passenger," he said.

Tuke is spending a lot more time in Auckland these days with his recently announced Team New Zealand America's Cup commitments and rather than leave the taonga at his parents' house in Apple Tree Bay in Kerikeri, this time around he decided to take it to his apartment in Auckland.

Being the first person to receive the Northland Sportsperson of the Year prize for the third time is a great honour for the 25-year-old.

"It's a real honour to have my name written three times on the supreme trophy and four times on the men's trophy," Tuke said.

Since the London Olympics in 2012, Tuke and his good friend and 49er skipper, Peter Burling, have got used to receiving such accolades.

"As far as awards go that's not why Pete and I do it, we do to win regattas and get better at sailing but, at the same time, it's nice to be recognised for the hard work we've put in to get where we are now but also the results we've earned, especially over the last two or three years," Tuke said.

The pair were nominated for the World Sailor of the year prize at the ISAF annual awards in Mallorca, Spain - the award incidentally won by Oracle America's Cup skipper James Spithill, who also had a pretty good year. The 49er duo have also won the top prize at Yachting New Zealand Awards ceremony for the past two years.

For Tuke and Burling, it is the start of a hectic period of life but one he hopes will be extremely rewarding.

"We've got two jobs going now with the Olympics being the main goal until 2016 and then the America's Cup with Team New Zealand taking over after that but right now they're complementing each other nicely," he said.

Tuke was looking forward to some spear fishing and surfing to help him wind down.

With a long career in high profile events still ahead of the Kerikeri lad, it seems unlikely to be the last time that carving taonga rides shotgun with Tuke.