Burling and Tuke win Rio test event

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke celebrate their victory. Photo / Sailing Energy

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have underlined their places as the future of New Zealand sailing with victory in the 49er class at the Olympic test event off Rio de Janeiro.

The pair finished fourth in the medal race to secure the title. They sailed conservatively to cover Austria, the only crew with the potential to steal the overall win on Guanabara Bay.

Burling and Tuke have dominated the 49er class over the past three years after securing silver at the London Games. They have delivered an unprecedented string of 20 consecutive victories in major events. No other 49er sailor has been unbeaten for 12 months.

"This was a big objective for us one year out from the Games which we've put a lot of emphasis on," Tuke said.

"We started off pretty solid, not fantastic, but we got better during the week," Burling added.
"We had a pretty big lead but it was mathematically possible for the Austrians to beat us so [today] so we stuck with them."

The test event mimics the format for next year's Olympic regatta.

Tomorrow defending Olympic champions Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie enter the women's 470 medal race lying third.

New Zealand's Games prospects continue to burgeon with the 49erFX crew of Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech coming fourth.

They haven't finished outside the top 10 at major international regattas this year and contest their world championships off the coast of Buenos Aires in November.

Elsewhere, Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders contest their Nacra 17 medal race tomorrow. They are sixth overall, five points off a top five finish.

Finn sailor Josh Junior will contest the double-points medal race in fifth overall.

Andy Maloney finished 11th in the Laser while Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox were 20th in the men's 470; both crews missed their respective top 10 medal races.