"Predominately my role is just to try to make the boat go fast as well as keep it steady and high on the foil. Between Glenn [Ashby, skipper and wing trimmer] and myself we try to make the boat go quickly and try put us in the right place on the course for the wind shift."
Team NZ showed strong form during the first round of the qualifiers, dropping just one race to America's Cup holders Oracle.
Tuke said the intensity from the first round, culminating in a controversial victory over Swedish crew Artemis, is going to continue to build going forward.
"We've had some tough races. We had a really tight one with Team Japan, which was really close. We had to push back hard there," he said.
"The race with Artemis was more intense than any other race so far and you're going to see that going forward. These boats are fast, they're manoeuvrable and that's how racing is going to be.
"Obviously Artemis are a solid team racing into the breeze and we had the opportunity to race them early on in those sorts of conditions which was good for us.
"We were pushing hard and just got that lucky break at the end and grabbed the win. It's still early days and with what we've learnt from that race is really pleasing."
The America's Cup is being hosted in Bermuda, giving the action a picturesque backdrop.
Tuke said Bermuda has been great and the relationships with the other teams were not strained.
"It's a pretty cool place to be for a few months and it's been an amazing place to sail," he said.
"The winds are quite varied but for the most part it's great sailing conditions. When we're not sailing we have a little bit of time but pretty much we're all heads down, making sure we bring that cup home.
It's all friendly with the other sailors. We're out there doing our best on the water but at the same time there's a lot of respect for the others.
"They've put in a lot of hard work. For me I've got a lot of respect but when we're out on the water I want to beat them."
