"This is an amazing opportunity and I once I thought about it, I didn't want to get five or 10 years down the track and think 'shivers, I really should have done that'."
Tuke's participation in the race gives him a shot at pulling off an unprecedented triple crown in sailing - Olympic gold, America's Cup victory and a Volvo Ocean Race win. It's a feat that has never been achieved in the sport. To do it in consecutive years would be even more astonishing. But the 27-year-old said the chance to secure his place in history is not something he had considered when signing on for the race.
"I've only been told [about the triple crown] in the past few days. That would be amazing to do, but for me it is not my driver at all," he said.
"My motivation is just to go out there and hopefully help MAPFRE get across the line first at the end, and for myself to grow as a sailor and to broaden my skills and basically get better."
Tuke knows the round the world race, which will stopover in Auckland next March, will put him in plenty of uncomfortable, unpleasant and challenging situations, but that, he says, is part of the appeal.
Tuke is aware of what he is in for, particularly in the gruelling Southern Ocean leg.
"You get to go downwind for days and there's no bottom mark to turn back into the wind. But at the same time, that's when you get tested. It will be freezing cold and you have to keep getting up out of your bunk to do a sail change, or because it's your turn at the wheel," says Tuke, who will be a trimmer-helmsman with MAPFRE.
"So, yeah, I'm starting to visualise that, but at the same time, there's lots to learn and try and fit in and hopefully bring my skill set up."
While his ocean racing experience in the past few years has been limited to a couple of Sydney to Hobart races and the Sail Fiji, Tuke has followed the Volvo races closely.
He has absorbed all the video and images coming off the boats, and even done virtual racing, testing his navigation skills.
"In the past eight or 10 years, I've watched every race and loved seeing all the video that comes off the boat, especially when it is rough. It's kind of easy watching that from your living room. I'm looking forward to getting challenged. You can't get challenged like that anywhere else."
Tuke's involvement with the Spanish team continues an association that began back in the 2011-12 edition of the race when MAPFRE skipper Xabi Fernandez and 49er team-mates Iker Martinez, who were then members of the Telefonica crew, used the Auckland stopover to get in some Olympic training with the up and coming Kiwi pairing Burling and Tuke.
During the last edition in 2015, Tuke was the "jumper" on board the MAPFRE team, bailing off the side of the boat after the in-port race. This time, he's pleased to secure a permanent role.
But Tuke insists the campaign will not bring the end of New Zealand sailing's most celebrated partnership, with he and Burling still eyeing up a defence of their Olympic title in Tokyo in 2020.
"The Olympics is still something that very much appeals to Pete and myself. That option is still there and to have the opportunity to represent our country and go for another gold medal would be very cool," he said.
Burling may yet decide to do the Volvo Ocean Race himself, with four of the teams confirmed for the race yet to finalise their crew lists.
Tuke, though, is happy with his decision.
He will join his new team in Spain next week ahead of his first qualifying race, while he also has several mandatory training courses to complete in order to be allowed to compete in the event.
The race sets off from Alicante, Spain, on October 22, leaving Tuke just three months to prepare for what will be the biggest challenge of his sailing career.
Kiwis in the Volvo
• Blair Tuke - MAPFRE (Spain)
• Brad Jackson, Brad Farrand - AkzoNobel (Netherlands)
• Stu Bannatyne, Daryl Wislang - Dongfeng Race Team (China)
• Vestas 11th hour racing, Team Sun Hung Kai, Turn the Tide on Plastic, and Team Brunel are yet to officially announce their crews.
