Burling takes a break as Tuke sails on
New Zealand yachting star Peter Burling is taking a break from the round the world race.
He is among 19 changes on the seven boats as they get set for the fourth leg from Melbourne to Hong Kong which starts today. Burling, the America’s Cup-winning helmsman with Emirates Team New Zealand, has had a rough introduction to the round the word epic on board Dutch entry Team Brunel.
They lie fourth and have struggled to stay on the pace of the leading boats in all three legs.
Burling never planned to race the entire Volvo Ocean Race.
The 6000 nautical mile leg to Hong Kong is followed by a 100-mile transitional leg to Guangzhou in China before the long leg to Auckland in early February which Burling will be part of.
Team New Zealand teammate Blair Tuke will continue on board race leader Mapfre who have made no changes for the leg to Hong Kong which comes quickly after the demanding haul across the Southern Ocean from Cape Town.
There are some significant changes among the boats.
Burling is one of four changes on Team Brunel.
American Rome Kirby and Australian Sam Newton join the team, along with race veteran and match race champion Sally Barkow (USA) and the Danish sailor Jens Dolmer, who has sailed with skipper Bouwe Bekking on many of his campaigns.
This foursome will replace Louis Balcaen, Annie Lush, Alberto Bolzan and Burling.
Team Brunel’s Bouwe Bekking, the most experienced skipper in the fleet, explained: ‘‘It was always the plan that Burling and Balcaen went home after this leg. Burling has sailed everything from the start and also has some America’s Cup obligations in the coming weeks.’’
‘‘That we had to replace Annie after her injury is obvious. We felt we need to give Alberto some extra recovery time after this heavy Southern Ocean. This is sport at it’s highest level and you have to be 100 per cent fit. Better to take rest now and return later in the race.’’
Vestas 11th Hour Racing skipper Charlie Enright will miss leg four as he and his family deal with an on-going medical situation. Enright plans to re-join the team in Hong Kong while Mark Towill has been nominated as skipper for the leg. Dongfeng Race Team is replacing injured navigator Pascal Bidegorry with previous Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper and America’s Cup skipper Franck Cammas.
‘‘Franck is joining the crew because of Pascal’s injury, which is not good news for us because Pascal has been a key element of the team since the beginning,’’ skipper Charles Caudrelier said.
‘‘Franck was available and he was ready as a back-up – we had already spoken about his wish to participate if he could help.’’
Kiwi Daryl Wislang also returns to the team while Justine Mettraux sails her first leg on board and Chen Jinhau rotates into the crew.