NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Sport

Sailing: New Zealand SailGP team avoid early drama in first look at Copenhagen

Matt Brown
By Matt Brown
Matt Brown is the news director for Newstalk ZB Sport·NZ Herald·
17 Aug, 2022 11:00 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Focus Sport: Blair Tuke looks ahead to Sail GP Copenhagen
Matt Brown talks to Kiwi sailor Blair Tuke ahead of Sail GP Copenhagen. Video / NZ Herald ...
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
0:00
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
    • captions off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      Herald NOW: Daily Sport Update: July 16 2025

      UP NEXT:

      Autoplay in
      2
      Disable Autoplay
      Cancel Video
      Matt Brown talks to Kiwi sailor Blair Tuke ahead of Sail GP Copenhagen. Video / NZ Herald
      NOW PLAYING • Focus Sport: Blair Tuke looks ahead to Sail GP Copenhagen
      Matt Brown talks to Kiwi sailor Blair Tuke ahead of Sail GP Copenhagen. Video / NZ Herald ...
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      By Matt Brown in Copenhagen

      The Copenhagen course has claimed a few victims on the eve of the latest Sail GP event, with teams striking ground during warmups in the first look at the Denmark event.

      First hosts Denmark went off course in search of more breeze only to strike a shelf estimated to be about three feet deep. The Danes suffered damage to their rudders and board, with the Spanish entry also striking ground in the same area and suffering similar damage.

      The New Zealand SailGP team managed to avoid drama but their first practice was a virtual write-off with "Amokura" only managing to get up onto the foils a couple of times in light winds.

      "This is the first time we have raced in Copenhagen and there are quite a few obstructions on the race course and unfortunately the Danish, who you would think have some local knowledge but I guess they don't sail here very often in these boats, hit the bottom, and the Spanish, so a bit of damage on their boats unfortunately," New Zealand wing trimmer Blair Tuke said.

      Stay ahead of the game

      Get the day's sports headlines straight to your inbox.
      Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
      By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      The New Zealand team has gone from being the hunter to the hunted ahead of this weekend's fourth round of the foiling Catamaran world series in Copenhagen.

      The Kiwis have arrived in the Danish capital jet-lagged but confident after an impressive showing to win the last event in Plymouth last month.

      New Zealand won two fleet races, finished second in two and placed fifth to rocket into their first ever final race in Plymouth (between the top three teams) winning it ahead of perennial winners Australia and Denmark.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Peter Burling, Tuke and co had been under immense pressure heading to Plymouth last month, having shown glimpses of their potential during their debut season last year which had been disrupted by the Olympics and regular crew changes, but ultimately, they were let down by a lack of consistency.

      That inconsistency continued in the season three opener in Bermuda before calamity in Chicago where the Kiwis were in pole position to qualify for the final race ahead of the last fleet race, only to mess up the start and finish last to miss out.

      Coming into Copenhagen, the fourth stop in the 11-round series, New Zealand is third in the standings with 22 points, level on points with Canada and two behind Sir Ben Ainslie's Great Britain, with defending series champions Australia on top with 29.

      Wing trimmer Tuke chatted with the Herald to discuss the team's change in fortunes and is adamant they will have to keep making improvements if they are to show last month's victory wasn't a one off.

      "We certainly come into this one full of confidence. It was a great win for us, the team's first one but there's a pretty quick turnaround and we have a lot of areas to work on," he said.

      "We've certainly been building nicely this whole season and it was great to execute in Plymouth, but, you know, pretty quickly our focus shifts to the next event and, taking the learnings from there. And although it was a pretty dominant performance there were some areas we wanted to work on."

      NZ SailGP wing trimmer Blair Tuke. Photo / Supplied
      NZ SailGP wing trimmer Blair Tuke. Photo / Supplied

      Tuke explained they are still not getting the consistency right across all the areas whether it's the starts, the boat speed, the manoeuvres or decision-making around the course.

      "Just getting more clinical and in all those areas and being more consistent across the wind range. We started the best we probably had in SailGP in Plymouth and that certainly helped. But it wasn't just that, we were still sailing the boat well and making good decisions around the course.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      "This weekend's going to throw up a few different conditions, I think potentially quite light wind on Friday and then when the wind does come on Saturday it will be quite shifty as it blows off Copenhagen city, so we'll have to adjust to that."

      With light winds forecast for the opening day, it's likely the crews will be reduced from six to four sailors, with Liv MacKay moving from the helm assist role on the New Zealand boat to the role of grinder.

      However, Tuke says they will be ready for what will be light wind conditions on the first race day.

      "It's challenging because obviously you use all six people when you normally sail the boat the most accurately and suddenly you lose two people. So, you have to redistribute the responsibilities. So, for Liv (MacKay) in particular she moves from the helm assist or the strategist role behind Pete and replaces Josh (Junior) grinding. It's quite a big shift for her. And then the rest of us soak up some other responsibilities too."

      In a boost ahead of this weekend's racing, SailGP has just released the results of the "Impact League" for Plymouth, with New Zealand topping the standings and becoming the first team to win both the on-water racing and the impact league in the same round.

      The Impact League is a second leaderboard that tracks the positive actions teams make to reduce their overall carbon footprint and help accelerate inclusivity in sailing.

      "Yeah, that's something we're hugely proud of. Right since we first entered the league, we wanted to be on the top of the podium in both the Impact league and in our performance on the water," Tuke said.

      "It's only a little way into the season, but to be the first team to actually do the double at a race weekend, the whole team takes a huge amount of pride to show that you can win on the water, as well as being the most sustainable team and to take that message of ocean restoration and protection to the world through our partnership with Live Ocean (Charity). It's been part of the team's DNA right from the beginning so yes, it's a big moment for the team."

      Racing starts at 1.30am (NZT) on Saturday, with three fleet races before two fleet races from 1.30am on Sunday, and the podium race.

      There are a further seven rounds in season three in St Tropez (September 10-11), Cadiz (September 24-25), Dubai (November 12-13), Singapore (January 14-15), Singapore (February 18-19), Christchurch (March 18-19) and San Francisco (May 6-7).

      Subscriber benefit

      The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

      Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
      Save

        Share this article

        Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

      Latest from Sport

      All Blacks
      |Updated

      All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know

      All Whites

      'Delighted': Former Phoenix defender seals record move to Wrexham

      Motorsport

      'Way better than us': Nascar drivers react to Kiwi sensation


      Sponsored

      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Recommended for you

      All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know
      All Blacks

      All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know

      CEO caught in ‘affair’ at Coldplay concert under investigation
      World

      CEO caught in ‘affair’ at Coldplay concert under investigation

      UK sanctions 18 spies in largest move against Russian intelligence
      World

      UK sanctions 18 spies in largest move against Russian intelligence

      Afternoon quiz: Which author wrote the novel The Great Gatsby?
      New Zealand

      Afternoon quiz: Which author wrote the novel The Great Gatsby?

      Watch: Waikato jockey's mates ride pull wheelies on motorway
      New Zealand

      Watch: Waikato jockey's mates ride pull wheelies on motorway

      Three teenagers die in head-on collision in northern Queensland
      World

      Three teenagers die in head-on collision in northern Queensland



      Latest from Sport

      All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know
      All Blacks
      |Updated

      All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know

      All you need to know as Scott Robertson’s side take on France in Hamilton.

      19 Jul 03:34 AM
      'Delighted': Former Phoenix defender seals record move to Wrexham
      All Whites

      'Delighted': Former Phoenix defender seals record move to Wrexham

      19 Jul 02:15 AM
      'Way better than us': Nascar drivers react to Kiwi sensation
      Motorsport

      'Way better than us': Nascar drivers react to Kiwi sensation

      19 Jul 12:29 AM


      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
      Sponsored

      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

      06 Jul 09:47 PM

      NZ Herald
      • About NZ Herald
      • Meet the journalists
      • Newsletters
      • Classifieds
      • Help & support
      • Contact us
      • House rules
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of use
      • Competition terms & conditions
      • Our use of AI
      Subscriber Services
      • NZ Herald e-editions
      • Daily puzzles & quizzes
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven Car Guide
      • iHeart Radio
      • Restaurant Hub
      NZME
      • About NZME
      • NZME careers
      • Advertise with NZME
      • Digital self-service advertising
      • Book your classified ad
      • Photo sales
      • NZME Events
      • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
      TOP
      search by queryly Advanced Search