The day 10-year-old Peter Burling took on the America's Cup champions

A young Peter Burling (far right, in red lifejacket) on the water with Ross Currie (far left) and Shayne Currie (in support boat).

NZME Managing Editor Shayne Currie was there when a young Peter Burling first squared up against an America's Cup champion.

In September 2001, a couple of weeks after terrorists ploughed aircraft into New York's tallest buildings, 10-year-old Peter Burling was preparing for the biggest yacht race of his short life.

As the world reeled in the aftermath of the US attacks, there were more pressing matters at hand for the Welcome Bay Primary School kid.

His hero, Dean Barker, was coming to Tauranga - a year after Team NZ's five-zip defence of the America's Cup in Auckland, in which Barker had taken the helm from Russell Coutts in the final race against Italy's Prada and become an instant sporting darling.

Fresh-faced Barker's stocks had risen even further when Coutts and Brad Butterworth did the unthinkable and walked from Team New Zealand to join an America's Cup team from landlocked Switzerland after the 2000 campaign.

In those days, Team NZ, in order to raise awareness and support from outside of Auckland, were taking their rockstars on a nationwide tour of several New Zealand yacht clubs. The clubs, in return, put forward their best sailors to take on Team NZ in a series of hometown races.

Ross Currie and fellow Tauranga yacht club member Gary Smith won the right to race Barker in a series of three races on Tauranga Harbour.

Currie - who happens to be my father - approached the race with Jimmy Spithill-like gusto.

Peter Burling races in an optimist back in 2003. Photo / Mark McKeown

He took his crewmates, Lee Jordan and Bruce Goodchap, to Auckland to practise racing the Etchell keelboats, the class of yacht that would be used against Barker and Team NZ.

The trio quickly realised their combined weight wasn't optimal for the Etchell.

"We had to get another crew member but we didn't need many more kgs," says Ross.

"We approached the guys in our centerboard division and I think it was Pete's dad Richard who said Pete would love to go for a sail.

"He brought us up to the exact weight - we didn't need much, maybe another 40-50kg. When Pete jumped on the scales, he was perfect. We said 'right, Pete, you are on the team'."

Peter had already launched his sailing career in the Optimist - and was already showing the promise that has led him to Bermuda.

Russell Coutts himself told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB this morning that it was only a matter of time before Burling becomes the world's best sailor.

Back in 2001, it was clear Burling wasn't there just to make up numbers or optimal weight, either. As bowman on the Etchell, he was kept busy retrieving lines and contributing to tactics.

Burling, dad and the Tauranga crew led Barker and Team NZ around the first mark in the first race, before they were caught by Barker and eventually pipped at the line.

In one memorable TV interview after the race, 10-year-old Burling comments along the lines of how the team sailed well in the first phase of the race ..."and then we were all sad because everyone caught us".

The second race of the day was called off in light winds, and Barker took the third by a mere two seconds over Smith.

Burling was named Tauranga's crewman of the day for his efforts.

At the time, his father, Richard, told the Bay of Plenty Times that the opportunity was "like a dream" for Peter.

"He told his mates at school and they just couldn't comprehend it. It's a bit like the All Blacks coming to play the Bay of Plenty Steamers."

Richard and Burling's mother Heather, are still active members of the Tauranga yacht club, and Burling himself returned after last year's Olympics to show off his gold medal.

The country - and his mates in the Bay - will be hoping a similar trip is in store with a bigger piece of silverware in coming months.