Peter Burling, Blair Tuke, and Glenn Ashby were crucial to Team New Zealand's success in Bermuda. Illustration/ Rod Emmerson
Peter Burling, Blair Tuke, and Glenn Ashby were crucial to Team New Zealand's success in Bermuda. Illustration/ Rod Emmerson
Before the great political divide opened up over sites for the America's Cup team bases, before the furore over hosting fees, and before the debate over boats, there were a magical couple of weeks in June where Team New Zealand united us all. But theirs was by no means the only success story of the year. The Herald hails the 10 most significant sporting achievements - and achievers - of 2017.
1. TEAM NEW ZEALAND
Team New Zealand celebrate thrashing Oracle Team USA 7-1. Photo / Photosport
Team New Zealand's stunning 7-1 rout of Oracle Team USA in Bermuda wasn't just a sporting triumph. It was also a triumph of technology and innovation.
For that reason the team's epic feat on the turquoise waters of Bermuda's Great Sound stands out as the most memorable achievement of the year.
There are many remarkable elements of Team NZ's daring 35th America's Cup campaign:
* For the team's single-minded determination to bounce back from the horrors of San Francisco.
* For the revelation Grant Dalton came within 12 hours of shutting the doors of the most enduring syndicate of the America's Cup.
The team were dangerously close to operating while insolvent. While Dalton worked tirelessly to try and scrape together the cash to pay his staff and contractors, the other teams were already whizzing about in their test boats.
In his mind, Team NZ was done. It was only a last-minute bail-out from a secret European donor that kept the Kiwi syndicate afloat.
* For the ability of a team starting so far behind the eight ball to find themselves so far ahead of the development curve when they arrived in Bermuda.
Their bold, aggressive design strategy, which was guided by skipper Glenn Ashby's philosophy "let's throw the ball out as far as we can, and see how far we get".
Glenn Ashby. Photo / Hamish Hooper
To beat the big budgets of some of the other teams, Team NZ had to think big.
* For the bikes. The radical cycle-grinding set-up was just one of many radical innovations on the Kiwi boat, but it was the most obvious and it was the most out there.
As Olympic cyclist turned America's Cup sailor Simon van Velthooven said "we could have ended up being the punchline".
Speaking of punchlines, van Velthooven's summer plans have ended up being relayed at various sponsor events.
On the flight back to New Zealand, chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge asked van Velthooven what he planned to do once the chaos died down. His response: "I'm thinking of doing a learn-to-sail course".
* For keeping the bikes a secret.
* For the nerveless performances of rookie, at America's Cup level anyway, helmsman Peter Burling.
Whether he was deliberately holding back in the early stages, whether it was his noted capacity for learning and improvement, or whether it was a little bit of both, Burling out-thought and out-gunned the aggressive Jimmy Spithill in the start box in the Cup final.
Jimmy Spithill. Photo / Ricardo Pinto
* For Burling's ability to do the above all the while looking like he was "Driving Miss Daisy".
* For their resilience. When the high-tech Kiwi boat plunged "down the mine" in the dramatic pitch-pole incident in the challenger semifinals, their Cup hopes too looked sunk.
It had been mentioned in planning "if we capsize, we're done".
But when it happened, no one within Team NZ was willing to accept they were done.
Not the team's stoic leadership. Not the shore team. And not the crew, who were more banged up and bruised than they were willing to let on, but still had the courage to return to the water and "send it".
* For the superhuman efforts of Sean Regan and his shore crew who worked around the clock to painstakingly piece the twisted mass of carbon fibre back together and get Aotearoa ready to race the next day.
Whether those back in Aotearoa had repaired their shattered nerves and were ready for racing the next day was another matter.
* For the weather gods who smiled favourably and gave them an extra day to recover.
Blair Tuke and Peter Burling. Photo / Ricardo Pinto
* For the devil may care attitude of the young crew members like Burling, Blair Tuke, Andy Maloney and Josh Junior who arrived in Bermuda without the baggage from past America's Cup campaigns. They weren't buying into the mind games. And they weren't afraid of losing.
* For the resolve of some of the more experienced members of the team like Ashby, Ray Davies and Richard Meacham, who had endured the heartbreak of San Francisco and were not about to let the past cast its windwash on the present.
* For being able to keep it together mentally when the inevitable fightback from Oracle came.
* For the daggerboards that miraculously held together after sustaining structural damage during the challenger final against Artemis.
* For becoming the first syndicate to successfully challenge for the America's Cup twice.
* For doing it as one.
2. TOM WALSH
Tom Walsh won gold in London. Photo / Photosport
Tom Walsh heaved his way to history when the 25-year-old won gold at the athletics world championships in London, becoming the first New Zealand male to stand on the podium at the global event.
It was heady stuff, considering the circumstances. Walsh suffered an abductor injury on the eve of the competition and was in pain throughout the event.
And he was up against the formidable United States duo of Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs.
The Olympic champion Crouser came in undefeated in 2017, while the Americans owned the year's 10 biggest throws between them.
But Walsh overcame the odds and joined Dame Valerie Adams (shot put titles in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013) and Beatrice Faumuina (discus in 1997) as Kiwis with world titles.
It was typical of Walsh, who has made a habit of re-writing history throughout his short career.
In 2016 he won the world indoors title, the first New Zealand male to do so, and then a few months later claimed his memorable bronze in Rio, before also clinching the lucrative Diamond League crown (only the second Kiwi to do so since Adams).
Walsh was brilliant in London, nailing a 22.03m in the final round, which was the third-longest winning effort in the competition's history.
He took the lead with his second attempt of 21.64m and improved to 21.75m with his next effort. His best came with his last heave, and Walsh was the only competitor to better 22 metres with his final attempt.
"It feels pretty good mate," said Walsh after his gold was confirmed.
"That's exactly what we came here to do, to win. To do that and to throw so well over the whole competition is something pretty special. It's payback for all the time and effort that the team behind me has put in, and also myself obviously."
3. BRENDON HARTLEY
Brendon Hartley became the first New Zealander since Mike Thackwell in 1984 to race in Formula One. Photo / Photosport
Brendon Hartley realised a boyhood dream when he became the ninth New Zealander and first since Mike Thackwell in 1984 to race in Formula One in October.
The 28-year-old was brought into the Toro Rosso team to contest the US Grand Prix when youngster Pierre Gasly was double-booked.
It was one of the more remarkable call-ups in recent history as Hartley appeared to have missed his chance to make it to the sport's top echelon when he was younger. The Palmerston North product served as a test or simulator driver for both Red Bull and Mercedes in his late teens and early 20s but was passed up by 2013.
Instead, he went down the sports car route and got an opportunity to drive in the World Endurance Championship with the factory Porsche team. His incredible performances there — including victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour race and the overall championship this year — got him back in the frame when Red Bull were searching for another driver.
As a more mature driver Hartley felt he was in a better place to get the best out of himself when the opportunity finally did come along.
He looked right at home on his very first weekend and went on to impress through four rounds — United States, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi — despite the team suffering from engine failures at each venue.
Hartley was handed a full-time drive with Toro Rosso for the 2018 season and will begin his year at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne in March.
Fiao'o Fa'amausili's Black Ferns won the World Cup . . . and plaudits from across the globe. Photo / Getty
Named World Rugby's team of the year, a significant achievement in itself, the Black Ferns won their more important award in August when they overcame a 12-point deficit and a yellow card to Sarah Goss to beat England in the World Cup final in Belfast.
They won it by 41-32 and the victory was a tribute to their defiance against the previous world champions, as well as their ability to change their tactics on the run.
Prop Toka Natua's try on halftime, which cut the deficit to seven, was perhaps the most significant of the match, because it showed England's vulnerability to a direct approach.
From then on the Black Ferns controlled possession and went straight up the middle. The normally muscular English forwards had little response.
"We lost the momentum and they got on top and we couldn't seem to get our hands back on the ball," England captain Sarah Hunter said afterwards.
The Black Ferns also showed in their second-half performance that they were perhaps the fittest team in the tournament. It was a massive response to England's 29-21 victory over them in Rotorua in June, a match in which the home side were clearly second best, and it installed them back to the top of women's rugby.
Hooker and captain Fiao'o Fa'amausili, a police detective, announced her retirement from the game afterwards.
"I was in tears because those girls have worked so bloody hard," she said later.
"Three years to train early hours in the morning, to go to work, and then to train again after work, and just to spend three hours or something with their families a day — that's commitment right there. And to see them get their first World Cup gold medal, I'm extremely proud."
5. CRUSADERS
Scott Robertson needed little time in finding his feet at the Crusaders. Photo / Photosport
Last year, days after Scott Robertson was announced as the new head coach of the Crusaders, All Blacks skipper Kieran Read was asked about the appointment.
Read, who was standing on the Westpac Stadium sideline on the day before the Bledisloe Cup test, smiled, his enthusiasm at working with the former All Blacks loose forward obvious.
Many others had doubts about Robertson's appointment, thinking that he would take time to find his feet at Super Rugby level, but Read thought otherwise and clearly the man known as Razor has a special way of binding players together and getting performances out of them.
It showed on the pitch — only one defeat all season (to the Hurricanes in Wellington) — not only in their many victories but also in the way they got them. They should have lost both games to the Highlanders, but scored in the final minute against the Highlanders in Dunedin through Seta Tamanivalu, a true gem on the wing, and a near-miraculous dropped goal by Mitch Hunt after the whistle in Christchurch, a spectacular intervention which made waves throughout the British press corps in Whangarei for the opening match of the Lions tour.
Their scrambling defence was a feature throughout the season too and only well-motivated and unified teams can consistently dig deep for each other the way the Crusaders did and for that Robertson deserves credit.
And they did it the hard way.
No other team has won a Super Rugby after travelling to South Africa for the grand final.
The Crusaders did it and while they were assisted by the red card for Kwagga Smith's dangerous mid-air challenge on David Havili, few would argue that they didn't deserve to win the title, their eighth and one of the most special in their long and successful history.
6. MICHAEL VENUS
The achievement of Michael Venus and playing partner Ryan Harrison at the French Open took many by surprise. Photo / Photosport
In the history of New Zealand tennis, there have been few more unexpected achievements that Michael Venus' efforts in Paris last May.
Venus had never previously claimed a set at Roland Garros, with three first-round losses in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
It looked like he was headed for more of the same in 2017, when Venus and American partner Ryan Harrison dropped the first set to Diego Schwartzman and Francis Tiafoe.
"I thought — here we go again," recalled Venus. "But from there I probably relaxed, and started to go for it a bit."
They eventually won 3-6 6-4 6-4 and then beat the fourth seeds Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot in three sets.
"I guess we got on a roll," reflected Venus.
"We had so much belief, we were enjoying ourselves and things just grew from there."
The duo did things the hard way, every match going to three sets, including the final, which featured two tie breaks as they prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (7-4) 6-3 over Donald Young and Santiago Gonzalez.
"At the change of ends [after the second set] Ryan said to me, 'we have won all our other matches in three sets so why wouldn't we do it today'," laughed Venus.
The 30-year-old from Auckland's North Shore became the first Kiwi to win a grand slam title since Judy Chaloner in 1979.
Venus pocketed around $440,000 for the win, but more importantly progressed into the top 20 in the world.
7. LISA CARRINGTON
Lisa Carrington was at her brilliant best in 2017. Photo / Photosport
Kayaking had a wonderful year in 2017, with much of the success built around the continued brilliance of Lisa Carrington.
New Zealand claimed four medals at the world championships in the Czech Republic, a record for this country in the elite event, and Carrington was on the podium for all four.
It continued a renaissance for the sport, which started with Carrington's surprise gold at the 2011 world championships, followed by her memorable race at the Olympics in London a year later.
Carrington's success since then — she is unbeaten in the K1 200m in seven years and won two medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics — has inspired a generation of paddlers around her.
Importantly, in terms of promise for the future, New Zealand grabbed two team medals.
The first came when Carrington combined with Caitlin Ryan to take out the K2500m event.
Just over an hour earlier, Carrington had claimed silver in the K1 500m event. She had led Volha Khudzenka with less than 150m to go, but the Belarussian edged ahead to win by 0.289 seconds.
Later in the regatta Carrington claimed another K1 200m victory, accelerating into her trademark fast start and holding off Dane Emma Jorgensen and Poland's Marta Walczykiewicz.
The 28-year-old Carrington was then part of the K4 500m crew — alongside Kayla Imrie, Aimee Fisher and Ryan, who finished third in their final, behind a strong Hungarian crew and Germany.
Carrington competed in 10 races at the championships in an extraordinary effort, adding another chapter to her legacy as one of New Zealand's greatest athletes.
The All Blacks ran riot at the QBE Stadium in September. Photo / Photosport
If a game of rugby lasted just 20 minutes, South Africa would have been overjoyed with their performance against the All Blacks in Albany in September.
As coach Allister Coetzee said, the Springboks "felt like we were on top and we dominated collisions".
Instead, they found themselves on the wrong side of a 57-0 score line at the end of the 80 minutes.
The Springboks could have taken a 3-0 lead in that early 20-minute period after infringements gave Elton Jantjies the opportunity to opening the night's scoring from the tee.
He was unable to and, soon after, his side were behind by two tries.
It was a quick tap from halfback Aaron Smith that got the All Blacks going as he sent a chip kick to the wing into the basket of Rieko Ioane, who sped away for the first try of the night.
Not long after, fellow winger Nehe Milner-Skudder was in for the second try of the night.
Milner-Skudder picked off an attempted pass from Jean-Luc du Preez and played a passing game with No 10 Beauden Barrett which ended with Milner-Skudder crossing the stripe.
From there, the South African side had no answers as the world champion All Blacks put the foot down, with tries coming from Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Lima Sopoaga, and a second for Milner-Skudder.
"57-0's pretty easy on the ticker," All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said afterward as a grin broke out across his face.
The result was the second time an All Blacks side had put 57 on the board against South Africa, after doing so in October of 2016, and the 57-point margin was the largest ever All Blacks win over the Springboks.
Portia Woodman was the leading try scorer. Photo / Photosport
Once again, the Black Ferns are on top of the world. After failing to claim a World Cup podium finish in 2014, the New Zealand team came back with a point to prove — going through the tournament unbeaten.
And it wasn't just that they went through unbeaten, but the way they did it. The Black Ferns were dominant throughout their five matches and out-scored their opponents 299-61.
Things were looking ominous for the rest of the teams in the tournament when, after dispatching Wales 44-12, the Black Ferns scored 19 tries to zero as they claimed a 121-0 win over Hong Kong.
Surprisingly, that wasn't the team's biggest ever win, falling just shy of their 134-6 win over Germany in 1998.
The team's first real test came against Canada, who were trying to go one place better than their runner-up finish in 2013.
The New Zealand team were more than up to the task and strolled to a 48-5 win before beating the USA 45-12 to reach the grand final.
Facing reigning champions England, the Black Ferns got on the front foot early with Selica Winiata opening the scoring with a try in the eighth minute. However the Black Ferns went behind not long after with England bagging tries in the 25th and 32nd minute.
Digging deep, a hat-trick from Toka Natua ignited the Kiwi side, who went on to claim their record-setting fifth World Cup crown with a 41-32 win.
The Black Ferns had their fingerprints all over the competition.
Portia Woodman led the tournament in tries (13) and points scored (65), with Kendra Cocksedge the second leading points scorer with 62. Combined, the team scored 49 tries — 15 more than the next best team, Canada.
Peter Burling could do no wrong this year. Photo / Photosport
America's Cup winning helmsman, world sailor of the year and master of understatement.
Peter Burling's unflappable nature has been celebrated almost as much as his achievements this year.
None more so than last month when he received the news he had picked up world sailing's top prize.
The Team New Zealand helmsman and double Olympic medallist was anointed world sailor of the year after being recognised for his crucial role in the Kiwi challenger's victory at the 35th America's Cup.
It was the second time in three years Burling has received the award, but the first time he had been honoured as an individual having picked up the top prize alongside Olympic 49er teammate Blair Tuke in 2015.
Burling, who is currently competing in the Volvo Ocean Race aboard Team Brunel, was, quite literally, all at sea when he was notified of the accolade.
The crew on board Brunel delivered the news their teammate after a receiving message from Burling's parents, Richard and Heather, which read: "Huge congrats mate, world sailor of the year! Well-deserved. Love you heaps. Hope all going well for you. Mum and Dad".
Burling's reaction — his trademark chuckle and sheepish grin — seemed to baffle his teammates.
"It's awesome. Really cool year up in Bermuda," Burling said before shifting his attention to the horizon.
Burling's unemotional response was perhaps fitting. His nerveless performances at the helm of Team NZ in his first America's Cup was one of the many great storylines of the Kiwi team's victorious campaign in Bermuda.
The 26-year-old's composure and apparent rewisecracks at the wheel was a constant source of wise cracks from the race commentators, who were bemused by Burling's "driving Miss Daisy" approach.
"Gee Peter Burling looks stressed in his first America's Cup," one of the commentators joked. "He looks like he is about to go to sleep," the other replied.
