America's Cup: Burling on his surprise split with Kiwi team
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz 25 Nov 08:02 GMT
America's Cup Prizegiving - Peter Burling - March 2021 - Auckland © Stefano Gattini
In the prelude to the Grand Final of SailGP this weekend in Abu Dhabi, Black Foils skipper Peter Burling has traversed the circumstances of his shock parting of ways with America's Cup champions Emirates Team New Zealand.
The three times America's Cup winning helmsman, left the New Zealand America's Cup team over seven months ago. As one of the talking points in the latest edition of Racing on the Edge two SailGP commentators begin discussing Burling being less "dominant" since his split on April 11, with the team of which he was skipper.
In the topsy-turvey world of SailGP, the Kiwi F50 team has scored 1,2,5 since the split on April 11, and lies second on the points table, and 8pts ahead of 4th placed Spain.
Burling says the breaking point with Emirates Team NZ came as he was on holiday with his family and was not even in New Zealand.
"Definitely thought the departure was a little bit strange, how it all unfolded and how quickly it unfolded, while I was away on a family holiday, not even in New Zealand," Burling said in a segment 19 minutes into the 26 minute long video discussion between SailGP commentators Lisa Darmanin and Stevie Morrison.
"There are a lot of details as to why exactly that was. But I think the uncertainty and control Team New Zealand wanted over me was just crazy, from my point of view."
"It wasn't put in the words that you can't do Sail GP, or you have to do this or that. It was more just a very large period of absolute uncertainty where they had full control over my time, essentially," Burling said.
After the split, Burling spent a couple of months on the sidelines before it was announced on June 20 that he had joined six time Italian challenger, Luna Rossa. At the time the draft America's Cup Protocol contained a rule prohibiting sailors from sailing for a different team to that which they'd competed in the Barcelona America's Cup.
However in the final version of the Protocol signed off by the Challenger, Royal Yacht Squadron (GBR) and Defender Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the so-called "Burling Rule" was gone, and Peter Burling is an odds-on favourite to be a co-helmsman, and possibly skipper of the Italian team.
Against that backdrop it is difficult to understand why the split with Team New Zealand occurred.
However at the time, April 11, Emirates Team NZ CEO, Grant Dalton remarked in a TV interview, that the team's first priority was the America's Cup, and he could not see how, it was not the only priority. Subsequently Burling's 2024 co-helmsman, Nathan Outteridge has signed on as skipper of the new Artemis Racing team, which will join the expanded 13 event SailGP circuit in Season 6 (2026). One other team, as yet unannounced by SailGP is also confirmed to join the circuit. Outteridge is believed to have an America's Cup exemption in his SailGP contract.
While not being specific on the issue that was the deal-breaker, it seems that Burling wanted to continue his SailGP sailing, well into the 2027 America's Cup program, as he had done in 2024, and indeed in 2021 had run SailGP, America's Cup and an Olympic program in the 49er. His co-founder and long time crew member, Blair Tuke did the same.
"It's sport, you know? Sport is a reasonably cutthroat game," Burling replied when asked if they wanted him to stop [competing in] SailGP? "Certain people expect certain things out of others, and if you're not happy to do that, then you've you've got to pick a different path."
"I'm really excited to compete at home and abroad with the Black Foils and continue to do that."
"With the other path, I don't think it would have been possible," he added.
(Fast forward to 17min 30secs from the start to catch the talking point.)
At the time of the split, Emirates Team NZ had it that negotiations with their skipper had been going on for some time, had reached a stalemate, and that the time had come to bring take the deal off the table, and move on with other options before they were committed elsewhere.
At the time, co-helm Nathan Outteridge was sailing back to New Zealand from Europe. After the split with Burling, the America's Cup remained in a state of flux over the stalled Protocol negotiations, until mid-August.
With SailGP teams, only governed by a 50% nationality rule, and with SailGP teams always looking to recruit from outside the League, the America's Cup champions may have decided they were vulnerable, and it was a better move to take the hit and lose their sailing super-star.
A month later the Kiwis announced a five-strong team, which included four existing team members, plus 2017 America's Cup sailor Chris Draper (GBR) in an undisclosed role. They have since announced four additional sailors, the squad is currently two boat sailing in the four person AC40s.
In response to mainstream media inquiries, Emirates Team New Zealand issued the following statement to be attributed to CEO Grant Dalton:
"Pete has been an incredibly important part of Emirates Team New Zealand since our campaign to win the America’s Cup back in Bermuda in 2017, as well as the ongoing transformation of the team to create history and win for the third time in a row in Barcelona."
"However, four times in a row is a whole new challenge for a team whose unapologetic culture is geared to win. And from the outset the team needs total commitment from each and every one of our people in their unique roles.”
Earlier this week, SailGP altered the hiring rules for teams by imposing an out of season transfer window for hires involving registered SailGP sailors. It is not clear if the new rules apply only to inter-team transfers, or if out of team hires (eg from an America's Cup team) are exempt from the transfer window. The new rules apply from seven days before Event 1 of Season 6 in Perth in mid-January.
In a later twist to the Burling split, and when it transpired that five of their squad announced in May 2025, were also sailing in SailGP, the Kiwis riposte was that they were happy for their sailing team to get race sharp in SailGP events. But the priority and first call on time had to be for the America's Cup team's requirements.
None of the four sailors subsequently announced were involved in SailGP - except for alternate strategist Jo Aleh who told Sail-World that for her a decision on Season 6 would be made after Abu Dhabi.
Some SailGP teams are only carrying the maximum sailing crew squad of six sailors, and are reliant on ring-ins and loaner sailors if there is injury or absence. It is expected that the registering and roster of sailors by the end of the first week in January 2026, will control some of these practices. In the past some teams have been unable to race, for a whole day, because of injury to a key crew member - a practice of which SailGP CEO Russell Coutts was very critical, and not up to the standard expected for a professional sailing team.
At today's sailing media conference it was confirmed that the new 27.5metre rig would be used at Abu Dhabi, and the big 29 metre rigs would not be deployed, however they would come back into play for Season 6.