Sailing's dynamic duo, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, launch charity to save the ocean

November 11, 2019

The pair hope to help save the oceans with Live Ocean.

Sailing dynamic duo Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are Olympic and America's Cup winners – but today, they're turning sailing into saving with the launch of their charity Live Ocean.

The charity sets saving our seas and their threatened creatures at the top of its agenda.

"We want to see us being able to challenge the rest of the world to pick up their game," Burling said.

Their first priority is New Zealand’s antipodean albatross, which has seen its breeding population numbers drop from 17,000 in 2004 to a mere 6000.

"When you sail through the Southern Ocean like we did in the Volvo Ocean Race, the only mates you've got are the albatross, and they just cruise around while you're sort of getting bashed by water and freezing cold, doing it tough," Tuke said.

"They're just cruising and keeping an eye on you, so they're birds we have a real connection with.

The America’s Cup sailors joined TVNZ1’s Breakfast this morning to raise awareness of plastic waste.

"Antipodean albatross are Kiwis and we really want to try and save them."

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