Blair Tuke “SailGP Is Going To Be Bigger Than America Cup”
We got to sit down with Blair Tuke who, along with Peter Burling, owns the Black Foils SailGP Team. They’re Back in Auckland just six days after taking the first race weekend in Dubai doing press duties and then off home for some much earned time with families. It was a stunning day on the waterfront when I met Blair, a brilliant preview to the spectacle that is SailGP, in Auckland the 18th and 19th of January.
Congrats, Good result in Barcelona. I watched every race! Do you even have a real world that you go back into?
This last few years we’ve done America’s Cup, but also SailGP, too. So it’s not abnormal to us. Just to switch back and forth. You have to be able to differentiate and park one and get into the other. After October [America’s Cup win], early November was a bit of downtime for us. Then we had new crew coming in, so we had to integrate everyone in.
So what’s your first memory of sailing? Of yachting?
Well, that one’s cool to chat about. It was up in Keri Keri, where I’m from in the Bay of Islands. That’s home. I just flew down this morning. It’s a very special part of the world. I’m just biased. I grew up right next to the ocean. There was always an ocean for me. Water skiing, fishing, kayaking, boogie board, anything on the ocean was me. We had a family yacht, so we did quite a lot of cruising when I was young. I was actually a little bit older than most kids that came to sailing. when I did it first, I was 11 or 12. Primary School sailing day I sailed a P class and quite enjoyed it, the freedom of it. And then my parents bought me one for Christmas! It wasn’t expensive. It was $150 or something. It was a real simple, simple boat. But I just sailed and enjoyed it. And then from there, I went to the high school teams racing. I just enjoyed the sport that stage. I was still playing rugby and playing cricket. It wasn’t till I was 14 or 15 that I was like, “Oh, I could make something of this”, and I wanted to put more energy in and see where it could go.
At some stage you’re making a conscious decision. You have to start thinking about “What are you doing for a job?” and then “I’m going to do this as a career.” What was that moment for you?
Probably wasn’t until after Pete [Burling] and I had been to the London Olympics, 2012. We got the silver medal, winning a medal for your country, it felt pretty good.
So were you were doing it just for the love of it?
For the love of it. We’d gone full on into London, but that was just to see what we could do. Suddenly it’s like “Oh, am I going to make a career here?”
We were never ones to really look far ahead. We teamed up in 2008 we went, “Okay, let’s give this next four years everything we’ve got and see where it takes us.”
And that set us up for a career in sailing.
Liv’s first real America’s memory is San Francisco. Where were you at that stage?
We were in San Francisco doing the youth America’s Cup. So we won that. And then, and then we went to do the 49er World Champs. I thought the America’s Cup was cool, but I wasn’t really that into it. As a youngster, I was more into the ocean racing side of it. That’s a side of the sport that appealed to me more. And then I kind of just ended up in the America’s Cup!
What we do with SailGP is amazing, it probably excites me in more ways. The sailing side’s great, yet the whole business side of SailGP and growing a team, and the potential, that’s where a lot of excitement for me is.
The Black Foils is our team. Pete and I have led it since inception. So we’re in to grow it as big as we can. SailGP is a lot different than other types of sailing, teams are essentially franchises, each team’s got a ticket to the dance. You lease a boat, but you have a ticket to compete. The whole league is growing in popularity. We’ve seen 12 teams this year!
The whole championship is growing hugely, you’re seeing that in all the broadcast and social media numbers. And the teams themselves are growing hugely, and you’re seeing them being monetized and actually starting to be worth quite a chunk of money. So it’s in line with what’s happening with other sports, and with that comes a lot of excitement and energy around the whole league. So that’s that’s totally different than what’s ever been in sailing before.
Let’s get one thing right. So at some stage, SailGP is going to be bigger than America cup. They’re going to go in parallel, they’re good for each other. America’s Cup will always be there, and SailGP will be too. The difference is consistency, how often you race. It’s a pure sporting property that’s built for commercial success. It’s built to bring spectators, that’s always been the vision. It’s not about who’s got a slightly faster boat – all the boats are the same. It’s that all the best sailors are there, that’s where the vision is.
Having that consistency season on season is what gives it stability. We’re seeing that with the major brands that are around, it is giving the league a huge level of credibility. They’re coming on board because they’re getting that consistency, and they can see the longevity.
This is our team. This is where our energy is, and seeing how, how big this can get, how we’re lucky to represent Aotearoa.
We’ve been able to build this, this team. There’s that challenge of seeing how big it can get, and how big the sport can be. it’s pretty exciting.
Have you watched a SailGP race yet?
Only online, not in person. Can’t wait!
Yeah. It’s like nothing you would have seen before. Be as close as possible. You should watch it from the grandstand. They change the course to be as close to the spectators as they can. So there’s 8000 people in the grandstand. That’s where the most action is. The races are only 10 or 12 minutes long. For us it feels like longer, you get used to making quick decisions very fast. It’s really changing the sport of sailing. It’s exciting to see where, where it can go. We’re pumped to come and show Aucklanders what this is. 8000 people, plus a few 1000 people on the water, right in January. It’s pretty awesome.