The Mange Olsson Foundation today announced Peter Burling as the 2020 Magnus Olsson Award winner.
Awarded annually to a person who has made an indelible contribution to the world of sailing.
Previous winners were Torben Grael, Sir Ben Ainslie, Stan Honey, Santiago Lange, Grant Dalton, and Carolijn Brouwer.
Peter Burling from New Zealand , at 29 year, is the youngest winner of the award.
He has an impressive resume with an Olympic silver and gold medal and nine World Championship titles to his name.
“It is a great honor to be recognized by the Mange Olsson Memorial Foundation for this award. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet Magnus, but his epic run on Ericssonc 3 in the 2008-09 Ocean Race definitely inspired my Lap. World road, “says Burling.
As a leader, Burling continues to demonstrate its ability to skipper and manage successful world-class teams in the sport of sailing. He was the driver of the 35th America’s Cup champion with Emirates Team New Zealand in 2017 and was captain and helmsman of Team Brunel in the 2017-18 edition of the Ocean Race, finishing 3rd overall. He was named Men’s World Sailor of the Year at the 2017 Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards. Burling and his 49er partner Blair Tuke also won the award in 2015 and were finalists in both 2014 and 2016.
In addition to their achievements on the water in 2019, Burling and Tuke founded the marine conservation charity Live Ocean, which focuses on restoring and protecting New Zealand’s ocean. The charity does this by accelerating and expanding world-class marine science, innovation, and public education.
2021 is shaping up to be another great year for Burling, who is currently preparing to defend the America’s Cup in local waters in March with his Emirates Team New Zealand teammates, quickly followed by the launch of his NZ SailGP team in April, and the Games. Tokyo Olympics in August 2021.
