Blair Tuke, the foiler from Kerikeri who has been on board for the last three Auld Mug victories, will not be sailing for Team New Zealand at next week’s America’s Cup preliminary regatta in Cagliari. Instead the 36-year-old steps ashore into an executive role focused on speed development of the syndicate’s race weapon Taihoro and the wider preparation for the 2027 Cup defence in Naples.
The decision, confirmed on Wednesday morning New Zealand time, marks a significant change for a sailor whose name has been almost synonymous with Team New Zealand’s recent dominance. Tuke shared a boat with Peter Burling in Bermuda in 2017, in Auckland in 2021, and then again in Barcelona in 2024, working primarily as a trimmer and flight controller in a partnership widely regarded as one of the most polished pairings in modern professional sailing. Now, with Burling having departed the syndicate over a year ago after his much publicised differences with management, Tuke is also stepping back from the on-water role he has held for nearly a decade.
In a statement released by the team and reported by Live News, Tuke said he was looking forward to the new challenge. “From a personal perspective, I am really excited by the challenge of transitioning into another phase of my career within a team I have had such success with,” he said.
For Kiwi sailing fans it is a different sort of announcement, one that recognises both the brutal physical demands of grinding and trimming on the AC75 and the broader work that needs to happen if Taihoro is going to be the fastest boat on the water when the Cup match unfolds in the Bay of Naples next year. Tuke’s new brief sits between the design office, the simulator team and the on-water programme, with a clear focus on improving the boat and getting the most out of the next generation of sailors that Team New Zealand is now actively grooming.
In Cagliari, Team New Zealand will run two AC40s in the preliminary regatta. The first boat will be helmed by Nathan Outteridge, the Australian Olympic gold medallist who steered Taihoro to victory over INEOS Britannia in Barcelona, with Andy Maloney back alongside him as trimmer. The other helm and trimming roles on that boat have gone to two newcomers to the squad, Seb Menzies and Iain Jensen, a combination the team has described as a powerful mix of experience and raw, youthful talent.
The second AC40 reflects the team’s growing investment in pathways outside the traditional men’s professional circuit. Jake Pye and Erica Dawson will share the helm, with Serena Woodall and Josh Armit handling the trim. Dawson and Woodall’s elevation gives Team New Zealand two boats with female sailors in driving and trimming positions, an unusual step for a syndicate that for most of its history has been overwhelmingly male, and a clear signal that the team intends to build depth rather than rely on a handful of marquee names through the next cycle.
The preliminary regatta in Cagliari is the first competitive outing of the new cycle and the first chance for the challengers and the defender to test themselves under race conditions against the new rules. There is no Cup at stake at this event, but plenty of pride, and the regatta also functions as a stress test for shore crews, communications systems and umpiring software well before the boats get serious in Italian waters next year.
Tuke, who lives between his home country and Europe, has been combining America’s Cup duty with leading the New Zealand SailGP team, where he and the now departed Burling have built a competitive programme in the F50 catamaran circuit. His shift to a land based role with Team New Zealand does not directly affect his SailGP commitments, but it does free him up to spend more time with the design and performance staff in Auckland and at the team’s bases in Europe as the AC75 is refined ahead of next year’s defence.
Whether Tuke ever returns to a sailing seat on the AC75 is still an open question. He is one of the most experienced foiling sailors in the world, with multiple Olympic medals and a string of 49er world titles alongside Burling, and the AC75 grinder pool that the team has assembled in recent years includes plenty of sailors who could rotate through the boat if circumstances change. For now though, the message from inside the Team New Zealand camp is that the priority is making Taihoro faster, and that Tuke is the best person to lead that quiet, behind the scenes work.
What do you make of Tuke’s move away from the boat. Do you think Team New Zealand are right to push their younger sailors into the spotlight in Cagliari, or would you rather see the proven combinations kept together all the way through to Naples. Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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