Peter Burling balances Olympics, America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race – ‘be at your highest level when you need to be’ says Kiwi
- New Zealander’s resume is incredible for its breadth of achievements as few other sailors are at the top of such varied disciplines from the Olympics to offshore sailing
Any of Peter Burling’s accomplishments in sailing would be the pinnacle of another man’s career. But what makes each so impressive is his ability to switch seamlessly between varied disciplines.
Burling won gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in a 49er, a small and nimble dinghy. In 2017, he helmed Emirates Team New Zealand to an America’s Cup victory in a large and technologically advanced multihull. In 2017 and 2018, he sailed round the world, claiming bronze in the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) as part of Team Brunel. The 29-year-old has countless world championships to his name in a 49er, from 2006 to 2020, and a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics, too.
And Burling, a New Zealander, is doing it all again with Team New Zealand at the America’s Cup in March 2021, followed by a return to the Olympics in Tokyo just a few months later.
“Usually you pick a discipline and make it your bread and butter,” he said. “But I was pretty lucky growing up, I was chopping and changing, and now I’m relatively confident I can pick them up. It takes a little while getting used to different sails, and it takes a while to get back to the top of each.”
“It has helped getting to know all the aspects of sailing and being able to take the skill set from one and transfer it over to another,” said Burling, who is an ambassador for Omega watches, which sponsors the America’s Cup team and is also the competition’s official timekeeper.
