Blair Tuke won’t be on the water when Emirates Team New Zealand return to racing at next week’s America’s Cup preliminary regatta in Cagliari, Sardinia. The three-time Cup winner is stepping off the boat and into an executive and strategic role, focused on the speed development of Taihoro and the performance of the sailing team as the defenders build toward Naples 2027.
The announcement confirms what has been quietly taking shape since skipper Peter Burling’s acrimonious departure from the team in April 2025. Burling, who went on to sign with Italian rivals Luna Rossa, and Tuke formed one of the most dominant sailing partnerships in the sport’s history, winning the Cup together in Bermuda, Auckland and Barcelona. With Burling gone and now Tuke off the boat, the changing of the guard is complete.
Tuke has been characteristically measured about the transition. “From a personal perspective, I am really excited by the challenge of transitioning into another phase of my career within a team I have had such success with,” he said in a statement. “The team as a whole is under no illusions as to how tough a fourth straight defence will be, so playing my part and utilising my experience will hopefully continue to contribute to its ongoing success.”
On his own Facebook page, Tuke was warmer still: “I’ll be continuing to work closely with the design and sailing teams to ensure we have the fastest possible boat and strongest sailing team to lift the cup for the fourth time.”
So who fills Tuke’s trimming berth on the AC75 Taihoro? The answer, at least for the Cagliari regatta, is Australian recruit Iain Jensen, who joins confirmed trimmer Andy Maloney in the senior crew. Jensen brings a decorated CV, including Olympic campaigns and a SailGP season championship with Great Britain, and gets his first opportunity to race as a Team New Zealand member next week. If his performance in the AC40 fleet races earns him a spot on the main boat for Naples, he will be the man who inherited one of the most coveted seats in Cup racing.
Completing the senior crew are skipper Nathan Outteridge and 20-year-old Seb Menzies sharing helm duties. Outteridge, already proven at the wheel in Barcelona, has been sailing with Menzies through the Auckland summer. “Having two boats on the start line allows us to push our internal standards higher than ever,” Outteridge said. “Our goal is to stay clean through the fleet races and ensure we are at least one of the two boats standing for the match race final.”
The second boat draws from Team NZ’s Women & Youth programme, with Erica Dawson and Jake Pye co-helming alongside trimmers Serena Woodall and Josh Armit. Dawson made clear the development crew aren’t in Sardinia to make up numbers. “We aren’t just here to fill a spot on the grid; we are here to challenge the fleet and prove the strength of the New Zealand programme.”
The eight-boat fleet also includes dual entries from GB1 and Luna Rossa, alongside single entries from Alinghi and French challengers La Roche-Posay. Notably, Burling won’t be racing for Luna Rossa at this stage either, though he will inevitably face his old team before the campaign is over.
For Team New Zealand, the Cagliari regatta is the first test of a squad being rebuilt around new combinations. Tuke’s decision to move upstairs rather than walk away entirely is a pragmatic one, keeping hard-won experience in the camp at a time when the team faces its toughest defence yet.
A fourth consecutive Cup win has never been done in the modern era. That’s the target.
