Live Ocean co-founders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have tonight been announced as BLAKE Leaders, recognised alongside seven others at the prestigious annual BLAKE Awards ceremony held in Auckland.
While Peter and Blair are accustomed to winning medals, trophies and awards, the BLAKE Leader Award recognises their contribution as leaders, and the pair are humbled.
“Pete and I are incredibly proud to receive this award and to stand in the company of all other BLAKE Leaders,” said Blair Tuke.
“The ocean has been so important throughout both our lives and as we became more aware of the issues it’s facing, we really wanted to do what we could to help reverse the trends. That’s when we founded Live Ocean to help scale up action for healthy ocean.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported us on our journey to date.”
Peter Burling paid tribute to the late Sir Peter, whose legacy is represented in the eponymous organisation and awards.
“Sir Peter was a great New Zealander, a legend in the sailing world and someone both Blair and I have always looked up to. What we came to realise as we set up Live Ocean, was the impact of his leadership in the environmental space… he was talking about climate change and biodiversity loss long before everyone else. We believe New Zealand would be a different country now in terms of its relationship with the ocean if Sir Peter was still with us today,” said Peter Burling.
With the New Zealand event of the global SailGP league in the final build-up stage Peter and Blair were already committed in Christchurch and unable to attend the Awards dinner on 20 March, however BLAKE arranged a very special alternative presentation the week prior. In the company of a small gathering of family and friends, Peter and Blair were awarded their striking BLAKE Awards from Lady Pippa Blake, wife of the late Sir Peter.
Celebrating New Zealanders doing extraordinary things, the annual BLAKE Awards recognise and celebrate people whose leadership has delivered high impact results and contributed to a more sustainable future for Aotearoa – either socially, culturally, environmentally or economically.
A citation video created in advance showcases the multitude achievements and initiatives that led to the BLAKE Leader Award for Peter and Blair. From developing their passion for the ocean in their early years, to the formation of their winning sailing partnership, their international success in sailing across Olympic, America’s Cup, Ocean Race and SailGP, to their move in 2019 to establish marine conservation foundation Live Ocean, followed by the launch of sister entity Live Ocean Racing… the pair’s ambition, drive and vision for the future is showcased in the clip.
