
On the Up: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke's conservation journey and their next big project
'Those couple of things definitely kickstarted it and then we spent a year before we launched Live Ocean to really dive into what we could do with our platform we have through sport and how we can do that here in Aotearoa.'
For more than five years, the pair have been championing a healthy ocean through the foundation, supporting marine conservation projects and engaging partners to help drive action and awareness to protect the seas.
'It's been an incredible journey for the last five and a bit years,' Burling said.
'Live Ocean's [about a] healthy ocean for a healthy future, and part of that is really the excitement of the opportunity around what we could do in New Zealand.
'You've got a massive ocean space, we're on the bottom of the world, so we've got a lot of really good things going for us, but in some ways we need to be a lot better than we are.
'We need to continue to look after it, and we, travelling around the world, see so much devastation in so many beautiful places that we're really wanting to be part of a positive change for the oceans in New Zealand.'
The pair have set their sights on their next project, looking to bring more attention to the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill. The proposed bill plans to introduce 19 new marine protection areas in the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana, to help address environmental decline because of human activities in the area, but has stalled after two readings.
Discover more
In a joint effort between Live Ocean and the Black Foils New Zealand SailGP Team, sport and conservation will come together with their Foil4TheGulf event – where up to 200 foilers are expected to take to the water at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club on May 24.
'We've got a real problem in New Zealand that we as a whole and our attitudes towards how we treat the oceans is wrong or misaligned, in my opinion, where we take a lot of it for granted,' Tuke said.
'We think we're better than we are, so there's a huge amount we can do. The ocean is absolutely vital for us to have a healthy future here in Aotearoa and for the world, so let's start treating with that respect.'
The event falls just before Burling, Tuke and the Black Foils head back to the United States for the next SailGP event in New York in early June.
The team have had an extended break after the league's decision to cancel the scheduled regatta in Brazil in April after finding an issue with some of the wingsails in the 12-boat fleet.
That decision came after the wingsail on the Australian boat collapsed during racing in San Francisco.
'I think everyone in SailGP's happy with the decision. The boats were in America about to get shipped out when they made the call and to be able to do a complete check and overhaul on the whole fleet and be back ready to go for New York, something that's incredibly exciting,' Burling said.
'With what they found in the post-mortem of the Australian incident, with a bonding issue in the sheer web of that wing, it's something that they really wanted to get ahead of and make sure those kinds of things can't happen.
'It's a really positive step. Obviously it's a shame to miss Rio, but [it's a] really positive step for the league.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

1News
a day ago
- 1News
Brumbies into Super Rugby semi-final with Hurricanes win
The ACT Brumbies have booked a Super Rugby Pacific semi-final berth with a gutsy 35-28 playoffs win over the Hurricanes at GIO Stadium. The home side's forward pack were prolific, with hooker Billy Pollard scoring a double, in the Brumbies' five-tries-to-four victory over the Wellingtonians yesterday night. The Brumbies will now need to make history by beating the ladder-topping Chiefs in Hamilton next weekend to avoid a fourth straight semi-final exit against a Kiwi club. No Australian side has won a knock-out game in New Zealand in the almost 30-year history of the competition. "The process this year has been about going one better than last year, so there's a big challenge in front of us against the Chiefs in Hamilton," said Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham. ADVERTISEMENT "We've been in this situation multiple times. "Very happy that we've won the game, but we know that there's a lot of work to do." The Brumbies were lethal when given a sniff in the opposing 22, but Larkham said it would be a completely different story with the Chiefs next week. "I thought our scrum was outstanding. Our lineout let us down a little bit and put us under the pump a little bit with turnover ball," he said. "But obviously those two opportunities there from the maul put 14 points on the board for us." The tried-and-tested methods of rolling mauls and pick-and-drives from lineouts, which the Brumbies had relied on all season, paid dividends. After the Hurricanes opened the scoring through fullback Ruben Love, a Brumbies maul from a lineout in opposition territory slowly but surely rolled over the tryline, with Pollard the man to dot down through a sea of bodies. ADVERTISEMENT Fatafehi Fineanganofo hit back for the visitors before Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa burrowed over after a succession of pick-and-drives on the Hurricanes' line. With three minutes left in the first half, the Brumbies opted not to take a penalty goal from right in front, instead chancing their arms again with another lineout. Their gamble paid off with Pollard managing to break off the blindside of another maul and dive onto the tryline to give the Brumbies a seven-point lead at the break. The sides traded seven-pointers in the second half, with a try to Brumbies fullback Tom Wright after fast handiwork from Rob Valetini cancelled out by one from Bailyn Sullivan. Veteran Brumbies prop James Slipper scored with another pick-and-drive before Hurricanes substitute Pasilio Tosi narrowed the gap to one try to ramp up the tension in the dying minutes. The Hurricanes burst into the Brumbies half through a Callum Harkin linebreak in the final minute but Luke Reimer stepped up for the home side to steal back possession and settle the victory. The defending champion Blues' last-gasp win over the Chiefs earlier in the night heaped the pressure on the third-placed Brumbies, who knew a loss would consign them to bowing out before the semi-finals for the first time since 2018. ADVERTISEMENT Instead it was the fourth-placed Hurricanes who reached the end of the road in their season. Coach Clark Laidlaw has been dealt a tough hand this season, with a rash of injuries ruling out key players for extended periods. But it's meant the Scotsman has been able to develop the squad's depth, having had to field 40-odd players over the course of the competition. "We've just got to suck it up, I guess, and take our disappointment and lick our wounds and move into the off-season," he said. If the Brumbies win in Hamilton next weekend and the Blues upset the Crusaders in Christchurch, the Canberrans will host a home grand final for the first time since 2004 (excluding Super Rugby AU).

RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Black Foils in fourth after first day of New York Sail Grand Prix
New Zealand SailGP Team helmed by Peter Burling Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP A victory in the final fleet race of the day has boosted the Black Foils into fourth after three races on the first day of the New York Sail Grand Prix. The race win highlighted a challenging day on the Hudson River featuring light wind and heavy rain with the Black Foils getting second place in the opening race of the day and 11th in the second. Just one point separates second and fourth on the table heading into the second day of racing with Spain leading the way five points ahead with two scheduled fleet races for Monday. The conditions on day one saw the teams contest the first race of the day with just three athletes on board before going to four in the next two. Black Foils driver Peter Burling said minimising errors was vital in the conditions. "It was about getting off the startline and trying to not make too many mistakes around the course. "We felt like we did a really good job of that in the first and third races while we made a mistake at the start of the second and didn't take our opportunities. Definitely a lot to look back on. We'd obviously like to be a few points higher on the leaderboard but we are excited for tomorrow," Burling said. The New York regatta is the first SailGP racing since March after a wingsail defect forced a brief hiatus of the competition with the cancellation of May's Rio event. "It's great to be back competing with the other teams and have 12 boats on the startline. It feels like a long time since San Francisco so it was great to have today under our belts and take some momentum into tomorrow and the rest of the season." New Zealand won the New York event last year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.


Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Blues and Brumbies join Chiefs in semifinals
The Blues kept alive their title defence with a last-gasp 20-19 victory over the Chiefs and the ACT Brumbies beat the Hurricanes 35-28 to complete the Super Rugby Pacific semi-final line-up. The Chiefs lost the top seeding they earned by topping the regular-season standings to the Crusaders, who outmuscled the Queensland Reds 32-12 on Friday, but still progressed to the last four as "lucky losers". The 12-times champion Crusaders will host the Blues on Friday in Christchurch, where they are unbeaten in 30 Super Rugby playoff matches, while the Chiefs will stay in Hamilton to play Australia's Brumbies on Saturday. The Chiefs looked to have locked up victory at Waikato Stadium on Saturday when a try from centre Daniel Rona and 14 points from the boot of Damian McKenzie gave them a 19-13 lead with time running out. The Blues have been playing catch-up since losing their first two matches of the year, however, and they battered away at the Chiefs defence after the hooter until lock Josh Beehre reached over the line to score and Beauden Barrett converted. "There's been a whole lot of ups and downs through our season and... although there's another week for us, we've got to enjoy that kind of moment," said Blues skipper Patrick Tuipulotu. The Chiefs, runners up for the last two years, were left stunned after leading for most of the game and will need to regroup over the next week before they resume their bid for a first title since 2013. "I thought we had that game in the bag," said lock Tupou Vaa'i. "I guess footy's a strange game sometimes, you can start on a high and then it can humble you real quick." The final playoff would have been a dead rubber had the Chiefs won, with both teams guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals under the "lucky loser" rule, but Beehre's try ensured a heated contest on a chilly night in Canberra. HURRICANES STRIKE EARLY The Hurricanes initially grabbed the momentum with crisp backline moves resulting in tries for fullback Ruben Love and winger Fatafehi Fineanganofo in the opening quarter. The Brumbies hit back in more prosaic fashion with hooker Billy Pollard going over twice and prop Allan Alaalatoa once, all from close range, to give the hosts a 21-14 halftime lead. The home side showed they also had some flair soon after the break when an inside pass from Rob Valetini set fullback Tom Wright free to carve through the defensive line for a fourth try. The Hurricanes, though, responded in kind when winger Bailyn Sullivan ran a beautiful line to cut the deficit to 28-21 with 55 minutes on the clock. The Brumbies went back to battering down the front door for their fifth try from James Slipper but his fellow prop Pasilio Tosi powered over 14 minutes from time to make it a one-score game again. The Hurricanes pressed for another try to send the tie into overtime but the Brumbies managed field position well and held firm to keep the Australian flag flying in the competition. "It felt good to earn ourselves another week, we knew it was probably going to take everything we had," said Brumbies skipper Alaalatoa. Hurricanes co-captain Du'Plessis Kirifi was disappointed but said his team should take some pride in finishing the season strongly after a stuttering start. "We just weren't good enough tonight and they were."