Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling during the last race series in Barcelona. Photo / Photosport
There are a heap of questions surrounding the departure of triple America’s Cup-winning skipper Peter Burling from Emirates Team New Zealand. Among them: was it more jump or push?
More push, perhaps, though a bit of both – but among the warm words flowing from both sides is another query. In a truly amicable split, wouldn’t Three-Peat Pete have been found another job within Emirates Team NZ? That was offered to the man he replaced in 2015, Dean Barker, though he didn’t take it up.
Burling hasn’t given his side yet, but to me it seems highly likely this was a case of a professional sportsman going out on a ledge during contract negotiations and Team NZ quietly closing the window. There seem to be three main reasons.
Firstly, crack Australian sailor and Team NZ member Nathan Outteridge. With no agreement with Burling six months after the Barcelona America’s Cup, Team NZ had options… and exercised them. We can expect Outteridge as skipper now though a new driver for the other side of the boat will be needed. The role of Burling’s close offsider, Blair Tuke, remains to be seen, but it seems likely Burling and Tuke may not move as a unit for once.
Secondly, time – or rather time spent elsewhere. SailGP is growing – even with the ominous news that the Brazil event has been cancelled while the series sorts out a major defect in the boats. Presuming series backer Larry Ellison foots what will be a huge bill for mending or replacing the fleet, Burling and Tuke (co-owners and co-CEOs of SailGP NZ) face more time away from what team boss Grant Dalton not unreasonably considers their priority: Team NZ.
Thirdly, loss of patience. Something close to this happened last contract negotiations, back in 2021 when Burling and Tuke did not re-sign with ETNZ long after the Auckland America’s Cup regatta, ahead of Barcelona. They issued a rather odd press statement which said they wanted clarity on “the fundamentals of the event” before committing to the team.
That got the gossip going. Some said the pair didn’t want to sail in Saudi Arabia, then a possible venue for the Cup in 2024 – that theory was somewhat disproved when they raced in Jeddah in a pre-regatta in 2023. Others said they were considering a break with the team to become their own self-funding outfit, taking advantage of various sailing opportunities.
At the time, I wrote: “Burling and Tuke could be holding off just to see what their diaries will look like – because they’ve been very busy boys with many opportunities to earn big bucks from sailing. They’re already on retainer from Team NZ and competed in the 49er class at the Tokyo Olympics (winning silver), are racing right now in Larry Ellison’s and Coutts’ SailGP series and are also committed to their Live Ocean marine conservation foundation.”
In the beginning, Burling’s work with the ETNZ design team was said to be close, constant and a key part of the technological and boat-speed advantage the team developed at Bermuda and since. Now sailing circles are full of talk that his other sailing responsibilities have seen him engaging less in that area, partly because of his busy schedule.
As Dalton told the Herald when asked about sticking points: “It wasn’t one single thing; it was a combination of all the things that make up any arrangement to come into a team environment. We have to know when our key people are available and that they are going to be available, and the team will always come first.”
Another factor may have been Burling’s perceived stubbornness. Insiders say he can be obstinate, difficult to shift on design and sailing matters. Certainly his problems in the start box have been magnified in SailGP – some Kiwi fans have looked aghast at some New Zealand starts. Burling’s weakness in that area was contained somewhat by ETNZ coaching and management staff in the Cup regattas but one source said of his starting: “Random, just random.”
That should not obscure the fact that Burling has been the sailing superstar for the team since taking over from Barker. Burling and Tuke, then only in their 20s, were thrust into the hot seat for the successful challenge in Bermuda in 2017, beginning Team NZ’s unparalleled run of success. Burling was seen as a natural talent, a gifted sailor of imperturbable disposition who, with Tuke, has been the very definition of that “well-oiled machine” cliche. He and Tuke have medalled three times at the Olympics – two silvers and a gold – and stand high in the ranks of famed New Zealand sporting duos like Hamish Bond and Eric Murray; Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald; Peter Snell and Murray Halberg; Colin and Stan Meads.
The fascinating aspect now is “Pistol Pete’s” next move. Current eligibility rules prevent him from jumping ship to another America’s Cup sailing team, though probably not the one after. However, he is a free agent when it comes to coaching – and he carries in his head a huge amount of Team NZ intellectual property.
It’s not hard to imagine another team wanting to make use of that and the youngest winning skipper in Cup history. Another possibility is The Ocean Race in 2027 (the same year as the next Cup is likely to be held), with Kiwi round-the-world sailor Conrad Colman entering a team and a 60ft foiling monohull in the global event. It’s not known, however, whether that would also cut across the bows of Burling’s SailGP obligations.
He is still only 34 and you get the feeling that Burling might yet have more chapters to write in his own America’s Cup history. He may end up a bit like Australia’s Jimmy Spithill – who skippered Australian, American and Italian challenges in his driving days.
'His contribution to the team is immense and a mistake would be to try to fill his shoes.'