SailGP: Peter Burling reflects year of change ahead of grand final in Abu Dhabi

Peter Burling chose a different path in 2025.

It’s been a year of change for the champion sailor after his exit from America’s Cup defender Emirates Team New Zealand after three successful campaigns.

Speaking exclusively to the Herald about his departure in May, Burling said he and Team NZ did not see eye-to-eye when it came to his desire to run concurrent campaigns again.

“They kind of wanted a bit more control than they have in the past, and especially with my specific role within that,” Burling explained.

“It was just, I suppose, a subtle difference in terms of the amount of uncertainty between how the two were going to operate compared to what they’ve given me in the past.

“I really wanted to keep my position within the SailGP team, and the way Team NZ saw it, they didn’t see that probably quite the same as I did.”

Now, with Burling and the Black Foils on the verge of another appearance in the SailGP grand final, the 34-year-old has again reflected on the situation and how it played out in the latest episode of the league’s docuseries, Racing On The Edge.

The episode follows the teams in the penultimate event of the season, last month’s regatta in Cadiz, Spain, as the top teams looked to improve their cases for a spot in the three-boat grand final, which will go down in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

“I definitely thought the departure was a little bit strange, how it all unfolded and how quickly it unfolded while I was away on a family holiday, not even in NZ,” Burling said.

“There are a lot of details as to why exactly that was, but I think, definitely, the uncertainty and control Team NZ wanted over me was just crazy from my point of view.

“It wasn’t put in the words where ‘you can’t do SailGP, you have to do this or that’ – it was more just a very large period of absolute uncertainty where they had full control over my time essentially.”

Instead, Burling’s time at the helm of Team NZ came to an end after three successful campaigns.

As well as focusing on the Black Foils as driver and co-chief executive, he also joined Italian challenger Luna Rossa for the 38th edition of the America’s Cup in Naples in 2027.

“Sport is a reasonably cutthroat game. Certain people expect certain things out of others and if you’re not happy to do that then you’ve got to pick a different path,” Burling said.

“I’m really excited to compete at home and abroad with the Black Foils. And with the other path, I don’t think it would have been possible to do that.”

The Black Foils finished the event in Spain second behind Great Britain to maintain the same place on the overall leaderboard, where they trail the British by three points.

In Abu Dhabi, finishing sixth or better after the weekend’s fleet races will be enough to see the Kiwi crew contest the final race of the season, looking to clinch the title after being beaten finalists in each of the last two campaigns.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.