Peter Burling is thriving under the glare of media attention. Photo/Getty Images
Nick Wrinch has known for many years there was something a bit special about Peter Burling.
The Commodore of the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club (TYPBC) is well aware of the Team New Zealand helmsman's sailing skills, as over-achieving beyond his years has been Burling's forte since he was 10 years old.
But there is something else about Burling that has often been missed during his years setting world records, winning Olympic medals and guiding Team New Zealand to a scarcely believable start to the 35th America's Cup final series in Bermuda.
Burling is super intelligent and understands mechanics and engineering as well as any other match-race sailor in the world. He is halfway through a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Auckland and will finish it when gets a chance.
"He is a quick learner and I suspect he is one of these quiet observers who watches what is going on around him and learns a lot from others and takes on board what he sees and learns from that," Wrinch said.
"That is why he has been so good and why he has developed so quickly. At the tender age of 26 he is a very capable guy.
"He has sailed with some very good people, of course, during that time and he is with a fantastic crowd now, with Ray Davies and Murray Jones and that up in Bermuda. He's got some very good people helping him to sort of hone those skills and that is a big help to him I would imagine."
Burling's qualities shone through during his years at Tauranga Boys' College where he shared the classroom with Wrinch's son.
"I remember my son saying 'he went off to the Olympics, goes off around the world doing his tournaments and then just slots back into the class like he hasn't been away'.
"There was no 'big I am' or anything like that. He is a humble guy and was well-liked by his colleagues for that reason as much as anything. He was a young man who was perhaps a little bit shy but has come out of himself as he has grown in confidence and ability. He has grown into, to coin a phrase, a fine young man."
Other classmates included Olympic sailors Jason Saunders and Sam Meech plus New Zealand cricket captain Kane Williamson. In their final year at school, sports captain Burling became the youngest sailor to represent New Zealand at the Olympics in China and head boy Williamson captained NZ Under-19s at the world under-19 tournament.
The clear winning margins for Team New Zealand in the four races so far in the America's Cup finals series has surprised many sailing observers, including Wrinch and the loyal following at the TYPBC.
"I am surprised from the point of view that our boat was that much faster because Oracle reckon they were sailing faster in the America's Cup than they did in the qualifiers," Wrinch said.
"That means we have gone faster still which is perhaps a surprise when you think of how the crew were performing. There was room for improvement during the qualifiers and the Louis Vuitton and they are certainly upping their game all the time aren't they."
Burling is not the only high achiever to come through the TYPBC.
Far from it with Saunders and the Meech siblings plus Trent Rippey, who is sailing in Burling's 49er wake at the top of a world cup regatta underway in Germany, and several high-performing national junior age group reps.
Wrinch says Burling's latest success can only lead to an increase in interest in sailing.
"I think it does inevitably and I think we saw that again last year after the Olympics. It was a boost for the sport locally. Kids watch TV, they follow their idols, they are inspired by them, so it is only inevitable they want to go out and try to do the same thing."
Tomorrow and Monday mornings the Tauranga Yacht Club will show the next four races live as the excitement builds to fever pitch at the place where Burling began sailing as a young boy.
With his outstanding record who would bet against him bringing the Auld Mug home to Tauranga.