New Zealand sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke recorded yet another regatta victory to their mounting tally with a win in the 49er class at 2016 Kiel Week in Germany.
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Photo: Supplied
Going into last night's medal race the kiwis had a 26 point lead rendering them unassailable and they went on to take their 27th straight regatta win.
Not everyone they'll face this August in Rio was racing, but a strong fleet totalling close to 40 boats battled it out over 14 races. Burling and Tuke won six of those races.
Asked whether there is any room for improvement left in the final build-up to Rio, Tuke said they would take some learnings out of the regatta.
"We had a really challenging week it was nice today that we finally got some good breeze with flat water offshore but predominantly it's been quite light and tricky so just like we're going to see in Rio so we're happy we came here, it's been some great practice."
Burling said no regatta victory came easily; "It's really challenging every time we win and it's something that's why we race the 49er you know, if you get it wrong you get bad results. We made it tough for ourselves getting an OCS early on in the week. We're really happy to bounce back from that and make it a good event."
Burling and Tuke are part of a 12-strong team of New Zealand sailors who are now in the final countdown to Rio 2016.
Laser representative Sam Meech will be the first of the New Zealand Olympic Team sailors to start racing on 8th August.
