Tauranga sailor Peter Burling and teammate Blair Tuke continue to reinforce their credentials as an integral part of Team New Zealand, winning the national 49er championships in Auckland.

Taking place on Mechanic's Bay over the weekend, the world championship pair beat an international fleet, winning seven of the 13 races and never dropping out of the top three in the other six.

Blair Tuke and Peter Burling won this year's national 49er championships. Photo: File.

In total there were 12 crews - eight men;s and four women's - including four international crews from Argentina, Brazil and the United States.

Burling and Tuke finished in top spot ahead of Argentina brothers Yago and Klaus Lange and the Brazilian pair of Marco Grael and Gabriel Borges, who were placed third.

The result follows a week of speculation surrounding the Tauranga sailor, who is being tipped to take over the Team NZ helm from Dean Barker, who has been in the role for 12 years.

Team NZ have stated that no decision has been made in relation to the helmsman role for the 2017 Americas Cup.

Burling and Tuke were signed by Team NZ following the America's Cup defeat in San Francisco in late 2013.

In the women's fleet, Tauranga's Molly Meech and Alexandra Maloney finished second behind Brazil's Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, with Erica Dawson and Ellie Copeland third.

All three teams were never outside the top three in the 13 races, but it was the Brazilian's seven wins compared to Meech and Maloney's five that made all the difference.

The Kiwi sailors now turn their attention to this week's Sail Auckland regatta, that features all of New Zealand's Olympic hopefuls.