Third skipper for Team Korea

Fonte: The Daily Sail


Gilles Martin-Raget / ACEA



Peter Burling to step in as Nathan Outteridge is poached
Thursday September 20th 2012, Author: James Boyd, Location: United Kingdom

Team Korea is to have its third skipper in 12 months following the poaching of their second skipper, recently crowned 49er gold medallist, Nathan Outteridge, who is believed to be heading for Artemis Racing. This season Outteridge replaced Chris Draper who sailed the 2011 season with the fledgling Team Korea, but then went on to become one of (at least) two drivers for Luna Rossa.

New helmsman for the Korean America's Cup challenger has been announced as New Zealander Peter Burling. Burling, 21, was the Olympic silver medallist at London 2012 and he and crew Blair Tuke were training partners with Outteridge and his crew Iain Jensen. He is held to be one of the New Zealand's most talented young sailors.

Burling will take the helm of the White Tiger Challenge AC45 for the next America's Cup World Series regatta in San Francisco being held over 2-7 October, where he will become the youngest skipper in the competition by a considerable margin. This is a position he is familiar with, having been the youngest ever sailor to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games, when he sailed in the 470 class in 2008 in China. Team Korea plans to start training in San Francisco from September 24.

Dong Young-Kim, founder of Team Korea, said: “Peter is the type of young talented newcomer who has been attracted by the high performance boats used in the America’s Cup World Series and we look forward to continuing the team’s strong performances. We are proud of what our new team has achieved in its first-ever participation in the America’s Cup.”

Another temporary change in the Korean cew will see two-time Volvo Ocean Race competitor New Zealand Andy McLean standing in for Mark Bulkeley who has a clash with own wedding to trophy wife Helen Grundy.

At present no announcement has been made over whether Team Korea will be going ahead with the build of an AC72 (and in turn will be able to challenge for the 34th America's Cup next year), although they are believed to have secured a substantial portion of their budget.