Peter Burling and Blair Tuke celebrate yet another win in the 49er class.
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke celebrate yet another win in the 49er class.
Tauranga's Peter Burling and Blair Tuke from Kerikeri have recorded yet another regatta victory to their mounting tally with a win in the 49er class at Kiel Week 2016 in Germany.
Going into yesterday's medal race, the Kiwis had a 26-point lead, rendering them unassailable, and they went on totake their 27th straight regatta win.
"It's obviously nice to take another victory in some pretty challenging conditions here in Kiel, but for us, it's our last big event before Rio, so it's really pleasing to take the win," Burling said.
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: "We'll take some learnings out of this week.
"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, just like we're going to see in Rio.
"So we're happy we came here; it's been some great practice."
