Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling. Photo / Photosport
Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling. Photo / Photosport
Luckily, Peter Burling and Jimmy Spithill are not in a debating contest.
In that arena, the voluable Spithill would win by the length of the straight. Burling, 30, earned a reputation when he was younger as being as talkative as an oyster — you had to pry him open toget the good bits.
In many ways the Team New Zealand helmsman has a lot in common with another Tauranga born and bred superstar: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
Williamson — at best you could call him dour — often gives the impression that talking in public is like going out to bat without a vital piece of protective gear.
It makes you wonder what assemblies were like at Tauranga Boys' College in 2008 when Williamson was head boy and Burling was the sports captain.
Unflappably phlegmatic, the pair are pure examples of doing their talking in the arena. Even Burling's nickname — "Pistol" — suggests a quiet efficiency for getting things when compared with a snarling dog moniker awarded to "Pitbull" Spithill.
And to draw one last comparison with Williamson, Burling seems at this best when the pressure is on and once he gets to the top he finds a way to keep winning.
A quick look at his Wikipedia page and your eye is drawn to the series of gold-shaped circles bearing the number 1.
Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling. Photo / Photosport
From a succession of 49er world titles with Blair Tuke, with a Moth world title thrown in as well, to their 2016 Rio de Janeiro gold in the same class, to the Youth America's Cup in 2013 and the real deal in 2017, he's found a way to get to the top and stay there.
Hamish Willcox, the sailing coach who has worked with Burling and Tuke over numerous campaigns in a variety of boats, says Burling's mental strength is his greatest asset.
"Pete's greatest strength is his mental stability," Willcox said ahead of the 2017 America's Cup. "He is rock solid and unflappable. Physically, he is extremely strong as well, which can be a huge help in the 49er, which can extremely tough on body and mind."
Burling himself acknowledges that he enjoys the feeling of the screws being tightened.
"One of the things we [he and Tuke] pride ourselves in is our ability to pull out a good performance when we need it. We enjoy the bigger stage. When there's that much pressure on everyone you see lots of little errors and mistakes that they wouldn't normally make, whether it's a capsize in light air or other simple stupid mistakes."
Former America's Cup sailor Craig Monk likens Burling to a "fighter pilot" an apt metaphor for a looming contest that's as much about being in the air as one the water.
While Burling hasn't given much away in his recorded statements this summer, there's a sense that he was looking forward to racing either Spithill or Ben Ainslie in this final. He wanted a showdown against one of the men who have defined the past two decades of sailing.
"As an athlete you want the opportunity to test your skills against the best people in the world which we've really got here," he said last week.
"At the start of the challenger series we genuinely had no idea who it would be. All three of the teams put together amazing campaigns. For [Luna Rossa] to come out on top ... we've got a worthy challenger."
Peter Burling during a press conference. Photo / Photosport
At the risk of correlating Burling's self-effacing nature with a demure nature, he's adamant that Team New Zealand won't be taking a conservative approach to the challenge laid down by Luna Ross.
"While we are defenders of the America's Cup, you can't be in too much of a defensive mindset. Everyone's taking a lot of risks across the board, pushing the development and pushing the R and D, and you just have to look at our boat to see how hard we've pushed in a lot of areas.
"We're incredibly excited with the package we've come up with and we've been concentrating on making sure our boat is going as fast as we can and we're as manouevrable as we can be.
"We have been waiting years for this opportunity to race, so we are incredibly excited about the start of racing on March 6. Already you can sense the intensity has risen yet another notch internally now we know we will be racing Luna Rossa and our complete and utter focus is now zeroed in knowing that we need to be better than them across the board."
Heading into the Cup racing?
• Give yourself plenty of time and think about catching a ferry, train or bus to watch the Cup.
• Make sure your AT HOP card is in your pocket. It's the best way to ride.
