Latest news with #Foil4TheGulf
NZ Herald
30-04-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
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.'
RNZ News
29-04-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Former Team NZ skipper Peter Burling proud of what he achieved
Peter Burling, Team New Zealand America's Cup skipper, 2024. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Former Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling is proud of what he achieved with the team in the America's Cup. It was announced earlier this month Burling, who won the America's Cup three times with the syndicate, will leave the team. A statement released by Burling and Team New Zealand team principal Grant Dalton at the time said discussions between the two parties had been ongoing since defending the Cup in Barcelona last year, but an agreement was not able to be reached. Speaking for the first time since then, Burling had little more to offer. "I'm incredibly proud of everything we've done with Team New Zealand for the last 10 years, obviously we didn't manage to reach an agreement. "I have a great relationship with Grant and we get along really well and both have a massive amount of respect for one another." Burling and longtime teammate Blair Tuke are joint CEOs of the New Zealand Sail GP team, and Burling said that was something for him to focus on. "I'm looking forward to continuing to build the Black Foils." Burling and Tuke were speaking in Auckland to promote Foil4TheGulf, a new environmental initiative with Live Ocean, the foundation the pair were involved with to fund action for a healthy ocean. Team New Zealand was yet to announce their line-up for the next America's Cup, and Tuke wouldn't say if he would be involved. "Still working through exactly where my future lies but Live Ocean and the Black Foils is locked in." Tuke, who also won Olympic gold and silver with Burling, had high praise for what his teammate had done in the America's Cup. "For all of us it's the end of an era and a very successful one and Pete should be incredibly proud of all he has achieved and what we've achieved as a team." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
