Anyone who knows Peter Burling gave up being surprised at what he can achieve a long time ago.
The greats in every sport are exceptional at every stage in their careers and that certainly applies to Burling.
Winning the America's Cup as the youngest helmsman ever is the pinnacle of what has already been a career to be proud of for the Tauranga born-and-bred sailor.
Mum Heather Burling said it all started with a little boat named Jellytip.
"When [his older brother] Scott turned 8 and Peter turned 6, we got them a $200 little Optimist boat.
"We bought the boat to get out and enjoy sailing, not to win America's Cups and Olympic medals," she said, laughing.
At first, Scott was the one keen on sailing, and Peter was "dragged along" to join the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club at 8.
"But then Peter got really good, really fast," Heather Burling said.
"He was always intensely determined and competitive. But he also had some x-factor that, even to this day, I don't understand."
Burling's former teachers at Welcome Bay School, Lynne Anthony and Glenda Honeyfield, remember him talking about becoming the best sailor in the world.
He did everything with determination, Honeyfield said.
"I remember going on school camp with him - even the string trail was something to be conquered."
Club life member Gary Smith, who has known Burling 20 years, remembered the boy pulling manoeuvres that seemed baffling - until suddenly he would be off like a shot.
"He has an innate ability to be able to read the water," Smith said.
"He can see a situation develop and know where he wants to be a minute ahead of where he is currently sailing."
Burling's dad Richard saw that talent and worked to surround his son with other talented, passionate kids who could push each other, Smith said.
At the Rio Olympics, three of those kids came home with sailing medals - Burling, Molly Meech and Sam Meech - and one, Jason Saunders, narrowly missed out on a bronze.
"It was a special, amazing group of kids."
Burling first hit national headlines in 2003 when he won the New Zealand Optimist Nationals and competed in the Optimist Worlds in the Canary Islands.
In those races, and in most of the races that followed, Burling was up against older, more experienced sailors.
"That's been the story of Peter's life, he has always been the youngest," Heather Burling said.
In 2006 Burling and Carl Evans became the youngest sailors to win the 420 Class world title in the Canary Islands.
At Beijing in 2008, aged 17 and still at Tauranga Boys' College, Burling became New Zealand's youngest Olympic sailor.
At college, he was good mates with Kane Williamson, who went on to captain the Black Caps. Burling was sports captain and Williamson was head boy.
"I don't think either of them spent much time at school," Heather Burling said.
Burling's next move was to team up with Kerikeri's Blair Tuke in a partnership that has taken the close friends all the way to America's Cup glory.
The pair became almost invincible in the 49er class, winning 27 consecutive regattas after taking home a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
Between Olympic campaigns, Burling led the New Zealand team to victory in the 2013 Red Bull Youth America's Cup and then won the 2015 Moth World Championships only months after sailing the boat for the first time.
In his wake were experienced match-race sailors in Nathan Outteridge, Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby and Ray Davies.
To Heather Burling, the constant competing was evidence of just how much her son loves "sailing fast boats fast".
"He has just gone out and done what he loves. I honestly don't think he had a big plan in place to get to the America's Cup."
Burling and Tuke were made the coveted ISAF Rolex World Male Sailors of the Year in 2015.
In 2016, they won gold at the Rio Olympics, triumphing with two races to spare and by the most points of any sailing class in the Olympics in more than 50 years.
They were New Zealand's Olympic flag bearers and in 2017 they were named New Zealand Sports Team of the Year at the Halberg Awards.
At every stage of this extraordinary run Burling has remained completely unfazed by new sailing challenges thrown at him and "just gets on with it", as he says.
In the America's Cup Challenger Series held last year he beat rivals Barker, James Spithill and Ben Ainslie in a prelude of what was to come in Bermuda.
"I definitely enjoy the challenge of out-learning the other guys and picking up the skill set required in the boat quicker than them," Burling told the Bay of Plenty Times last year.
"For us, it's always about trying to be smarter and do things more efficiently and get more bang for your buck in your time out of nearly everything you do."
For those who have known him and sailed with him since he was a child, his America's Cup success was no surprise.
"It was always going to happen," said Tauranga club member Peter Saunders, whose sons sailed with Burling.
"His abilities were obvious at a very young age."
The surprise came in the way Burling adapted to being in the public eye, becoming the face of Emirates Team New Zealand's campaign in Bermuda.
"You couldn't get boo out of him when he was younger," Saunders said.
"He has always been an outstanding sailor, but he seems to have grown so much as a person in the last few years."
Heather Burling said her son's public role in Bermuda, which included fronting press every day, had been a bit unexpected. Traditionally the team skipper, not the helmsman, played that role.
"He was a really shy kid. Speaking in public was not something that came naturally.
"We're really proud of him."
Asked what made her feel most proud of her son, she said it was the man - not the sailor - he had become.
"It's just him, and who he is. He is grounded and has always just been Peter, even with everything else going on."
There will be no shortage of opportunities for Burling to keep racing fast boats, Mr Smith said.
But at just 26, it was too soon to call him a legend, he reckoned.
"He has got a long way to go yet. He has got a lot more sailing to do and places to go."
Burling became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sailing in this year's New Year's Honours - announced on his birthday, in fact.
After winning the America's Cup, it is anyone's guess what he will be given in January's list.
But whatever it is one thing is certain - it will not change him or his steadfast desire to set himself new challenges and knock them off.
- Bay of Plenty Times
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