Peter Burling joins Team Brunel in the Volvo Ocean Race
by Team Brunel 10 Aug 2017 08:16 BST
10 August 2017
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet start Leg 0 sailing Round the Isle of Wight at Lendy Cowes Week © Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race
New Zealand's Peter Burling is joining Team Brunel in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18. Burling could become the first sailor in history to win the 'Triple Crown' of an Olympic medal, the America's Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race.
An honour
Peter Burling: "Team Brunel and Bouwe both have a long history with the Volvo Ocean Race. It's an honour to be part of this talented team and learn from the breadth of experience on board."
Offshore racing new for Burling
The race will be Peters first competitive offshore. After two Olympic campaigns (London 2012 silver and Rio 2016 gold) in the 49-er class and his successful win in the America's Cup he can't wait to compete in the world's premier offshore race.
Burling: "Round the world ocean racing has always excited me and I'm stoked to be part of Team Brunel on this epic edition. I can't wait to be thrown into the challenge of extreme offshore racing and broaden my skills and sailing experience."
Burling versus Tuke
As sevenfold World Champion, winner of Olympic gold and the America's Cup
the 26-year-old Burling is without any doubt one of the biggest sailors of the moment. In this Volvo Ocean Race he will compete against his sailing partner Blair Tuke, sailing for Mapfre. Tuke also makes his debute and can take the 'Triple Crown'.
Burling: "It's going to be awesome racing against Tukey! We
have huge respect for each others skill and talent and we are each other's biggest supporters. We are both in a position to gain amazing experience to bring to our future sailing goals. I look forward to sharing a few stories and beers with him in port."
Burling is an engineer
The 26-year-old kiwi studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Auckland. Auckland will host a stopover in March 2018. Something Burling is now already looking forward to.
Burling: "It's going to be pretty special to be on board to see Auckland, the City of Sails, welcome an epic race like the Volvo Ocean Race. Having just toured NZ with the America's Cup I got to witness how much kiwis really do love sailing and know they will really get behind the Volvo Ocean Race coming to town."
Bekking looking forward to co-operate with new generation exponent
Bouwe Bekking skipper of Team Brunel is looking forward to work with this young talented sailor.
Bekking: "I see Peter as an exponent of the new talented generation. The great thing is that he has proven himself in spite of his young age. I'm glad that we can add him to the team, especially with his experience in Olympic sailing and the America's Cup. With these three: Peter, Carlo and Kyle we have a strong representation of under 30 sailors in our team."
Team Brunel on track
Peter Burling is the seventh selected sailor. The other sailors of Team Brunel are:
- Bouwe Bekking (NED)
- Carlo Huisman (NED)
- Kyle Langford (AUS)
- Juanpa Marcos (ARG)
- Alberto Bolzan (ITA)
- Maciel Cicchetti (ARG/ITA)
Bekking: "Team Brunel is on track for the start in Alicante. We will use the rest of this Leg 0 to sail in different compositions and prepare ourselves. At the same time we are still working hard to prepare and organize everything as well as possible. The shore team is also taking shape and we are having conversations with new potential partners. In addition, we hope to find a number of new parties that want to collaborate."