America's Cup veteran Sir Russell Coutts, highly rates Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling. Photo / John Stone
America's Cup veteran Sir Russell Coutts, highly rates Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling. Photo / John Stone
Tauranga's Richard Burling says it was a nice surprise to read how Sir Russell Coutts rates his son Peter Burling a more complete sailor than Coutts himself was.
Coutts, the most successful America's Cup figure of all time, made the comments on Wednesday - 20 years since he steered TeamNZ to a 5-0 clean-sweep of Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes on the waters off San Diego to lift the America's Cup for the first time.
Mr Burling says his son long ago exceeded any expectations of what he thought he would achieve.
"From living in Tauranga doing so many bits and pieces he has a huge variety of skills over all the sailing disciplines basically, apart from maybe windsurfing.
"I was a sailor but never at the level Russell's parents were so when he was a kid Russell got a lot more technical support than what Peter ever got from me. Peter has learned a lot more himself," he said. yesterday.
"They have similar personalities. Peter doesn't say a hell of a lot but he actually thinks about what he says and it probably means something when he says it."
Peter Burling could not be contacted in time for this edition.
Coutts earlier said that in Burling, Team NZ boasted "a tremendous asset. He's just an amazing talent. Quite possibly, the best sailing talent in the world right now.
"The interesting thing about him is he can adapt well to any type of boat and sail it pretty well and I think he's got potential with a good group of young guys around him to really go a long way."
Comparisons between Coutts, New Zealand's most decorated sailor, and Burling have long been drawn. They both come across as serious characters with an intense, single-minded focus on sailing.
Like Coutts, Burling possesses incredible talent, sharpened by hours of training. And, as Coutts did early in his sailing career, Burling is studying towards an engineering degree at Auckland University.
America's Cup veteran Sir Russell Coutts.
But Coutts believes the young helmsman is a much better sailor than he was at the same stage in his career.
"He's not just limited to high-performance boats, he can sail pretty much anything.
"He's got skills across the board, which in the modern era is what you need." He's a tremendous talent."
Peter Burling •Age: 24 •Education: Tauranga Boys' College •Achievements include: Winner of five world championship titles - the international moth in January, the 49er skiff last year and 2013, and the 420 class in 2006 and 2007. Silver medallist at the 2012 London Olympics. Youngest sailor to represent New Zealand at an Olympic Games - in 2008, when he was 17. Four-time winner of the NZ Young Sailor of the Year. •Goals: Gold at next year's Rio Olympics and America's Cup glory in 2017.
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