Peter Burling reveals his secrets

Peter Burling, who alongside Blair Tuke will compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the defending gold medalists in the Men’s Skiff event, has been some kind of wonder kid for New Zealand.

Burling sailed his first world championship at 11, and became the youngest New Zealander to sail in the Olympics at 17, finishing 11th in the 470 class at the 2008 Olympics. Shifting to the 49er, he claimed silver in London 2012 and gold in Rio 2016.

At 26, he became the youngest helmsman to win the America’s Cup, repeating victory at age 30 in the 36th edition. But now with the celebration in Auckland subsided, he’s back to the grind, playing catch-up to regain his Olympic form.

In this interview with Robb Report, Burling reveals some of his secrets:

What apps do you use the most?
I like WhatsApp, Surf2Surf, which is a surfing guide for New Zealand, and the Covid Tracer app to scan restaurants. For social media, I mostly use Instagram, but it’s kind of sad because I only have 45,000 followers.

First thing you do in the morning?
I enjoy sleeping in, but I’m willing to get up ridiculously early if there’s something fun on the table like surfing or free diving.

What do you do that’s still analog?
I really enjoy getting out into the environment, biking or going for a run. If I don’t spend enough time in the outdoors, I feel stiff.

What do you most crave at the end of the day?
A warm bed. It seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to be charging all the batteries.

How do you find calm?
I’m a pretty relaxed person. I can switch on and off. I really enjoy surfing, and I recently got into foil surfing. It’s a slightly different sensation, but both use the power of the waves.

Who is your guru?
I don’t have just one. There are lots of gurus in sailing. Whenever I find a problem, I find an expert. Hundreds of people have amazing knowledge. – Full report