Blair Tuke and Peter Burling are targeting gold in Auckland next week at the 49er World Championships, which doubles as a chance for New Zealand's favourite sailing duo to stake their claim for the Tokyo Olympics.
The event will mark a return to competing for world championships for the pair, who have been tied up with America’s Cup and World Ocean Race commitments in recent years.
“We're pretty motivated to win next week, you know it doesn't get much bigger than this. I mean a World Championship is big but to have it on your home waters it's pretty big,” Tuke said.
The duo is used to dominating World Championship events, from 2013 they won four straight world titles as well as claiming gold at the Rio Olympics.
For the past three years they haven't sailed a world champs, caught up with winning the America's Cup as well as competing in the gruelling World Ocean race.
“It's definitely been a busy period for the past wee while but definitely a lot of fun and you know what else would you rather be doing, you know you get to push the boundaries in the Cup world and then also jump back into the Olympic class,” Burling said.
Their transition back to the 49er, seamless, already winning the European title and Olympic test event this year.
A warm-up regatta today was their last practice before the most important showdown.
“We've been working hard towards it and you know this regatta we're doing today in the lead up is important but it's all about next week,” Tuke said.
Winning their only option, while New Zealand has secured Olympic qualification for the 49er class, Burling and Tuke haven't, meaning they need to outclass their Kiwi counterparts to secure selection.
“If you don't sail at your best you're definitely going to be found out so it's going to be whoever puts their best foot forward and whoever sails best on the day who will end up winning it,” Burling said.
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