\u201cWe had to just see how it worked out and, as it evolved, it became apparent that it was time for that younger group and the new faces to step in and that I could help in other ways. So that\u2019s the direction we\u2019ve gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty content with it. I\u2019ve known for six months. Looking into next week now, it\u2019s a really exciting opportunity for the team. [We\u2019ve] got a good group of experienced, emerging talent and new combinations, and then they get to test it out against the best sailors in the world, so that\u2019s pretty awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuke said the move was one he led the conversation around. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s [been] really good conversation the whole way. Right from initially coming back to the team and then when we had this, I guess, updated conversation as to how we were going to plan it going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI led it, but [it\u2019s been a] really open conversation all the way through. If it wasn\u2019t a good conversation, I wouldn\u2019t still be here. So, you know, really stoked that I can still use my skills, my experience to help the team try and win next year again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blair Tuke (left) and his father Andy Tuke celebrate after Emirates Team New Zealand successfully defended the America’s Cup in Auckland in 2021. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Team New Zealand have welcomed plenty of new faces into their top team for this cycle. Locally, they have promoted impressive talents Jo Aleh, Seb Menzies, Jake Pye, Josh Armit,<\/a> Serena Woodall and Helena Sanderson<\/a> into their main group, along with non-national recruitments Iain Jensen (Australia)<\/a> and Chris Draper (Great Britain)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Skipper Nathan Outteridge and flight controller Andy Maloney continue in sailing roles in a set-up that, so far, has shown plenty of pace and potential on home waters.<\/p>\n For Tuke, his new role focuses on harnessing that potential both from a design perspective and that of a sailor.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in a unique position that I can help do that after years of experience and I\u2019ve got a lot of IP [intellectual property] there. So far, it\u2019s working really well.\u201d<\/p>\n With teams allowed to enter two AC40s in the regatta in Cagliari next week, Outteridge, Maloney, Jensen and Menzies have earned the opportunity to represent the main America\u2019s Cup team, with Pye, Armit, Woodall and Women\u2019s America\u2019s Cup team helm Erica Dawson racing in the second boat.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Herald in June last year about his decision to return<\/a> for another cycle, Tuke emphasised that he had more to give to the team after three successful campaigns and that helping to develop future talent was a big part of that.<\/p>\n Now, almost a year on, he has been impressed by what he has seen on the water.<\/p>\n \u201cThat young talent\u2019s done a great job so far. They\u2019re real hungry, a lot of raw talent, skill and I think it\u2019s also a testament to the wider environment at the team. When you bring new people into anything, it\u2019s when you really get tested as to how good your systems are and how good the culture is and all of that. Their ability to slot straight in and bring their own individual flair but then sort of come into that environment\u2019s a testament to everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re doing a great job. It\u2019s obviously a long way to go and next week will be a first little test of it, albeit in one-design boats \u2013 it\u2019s not the same as the AC75 \u2013 but I\u2019ve been really impressed with them.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s so important to me just to see that next group come through and for them to grab it for themselves and take it on. I\u2019ve said to them straight up that you\u2019ve always got to respect the past and the people that have gone before and what\u2019s been created, but then this is their opportunity to grab it and make it their own and they\u2019re doing that so far.\u201d<\/p>\n Tuke\u2019s commitments outside of Team New Zealand also fed into his decision and desire to evolve his role within the team. He continues to lead the Black Foils in SailGP, alongside co-chief executive Peter Burling, while the pair also have commitments with Live Ocean, the conservation charity they founded in 2019.<\/p>\nEmirates Team New Zealand were the first team to sail their AC75 in the new cycle. Photo \/ Team New Zealand<\/p>\n
Jono Ridler (left) and Blair Tuke. Photo \/ Gareth Cooke<\/p>\n