Out of a class, superstars are sometimes born. The 29er has been the spawning ground of many sailing greats, not just in Olympic class sailing. Some have gone on to form careers racing in keel boats and iconic yacht races such as the Volvo. Who are they? Read about them here.
Its been a crazy ride the last 18 months, certainly for myself and Stu as we have had to deal with more uncertainty than ever over our life dreams and goals. From losing the GBR F50 team to Ben Ainslie, a cancelled Moth worlds in Weymouth and not least, the delay to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
If you’d have told Hannah in 2008 during her 29er career that 10 years later she would be rounding Cape Horn during the Volvo Ocean Race, she would never have believed you!
"In dinghy sailing, you might see 30 knots for a few seconds but rarely over 25 knots sustained, mid-Atlantic, 30 knots is relatively calm compared to some of the weather I saw! The race was incredible to be part of, it tested me more mentally and physically than I could have imagined".
Burling and Tuke are legends in the World of 49er Skiff sailing. Winning multiple World Championship titles they go down in history as two of the greats. Tuke was part of the winning team who took Gold in the 29er Worlds in Garda in 2009.
At the 2012 London Olympics, they were the youngest team. They won the 2016 Olympics with two races to spare with an overall 43 point margin.
They are the first sailors to win six 49er class World Championships (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020). In November 2015 World Sailing announced that Tuke and Burling were the World Sailing, Rolex World Male Sailors of the year.