That might sound obvious but it was all the pair needed to do to confirm a silver medal, which also doubled as the 100th won by New Zealand in Olympic history.
They went into the race being unable to catch runaway leaders and training partners Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen from Australia but, equally, couldn't be overtaken by any of the six combinations battling for the bronze.
Under Olympic rules Burling and Tuke needed to race in a sportsmanlike manner and, given the squabble over third, their result was going to have a huge bearing on the overall standings. There can be few doubts they did their best when they finished second in light and shifty winds.
It is New Zealand's first medal in anything other than a windsurfer since 1992.
Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie should add another after they consolidated their advantage at the head of the women's 470 fleet.
They went into the day with a slim four-point advantage over the British crew of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark and extended that after finishing second and their rivals were eighth.
Importantly, the Dutch crew of Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout finished down the field in 20, meaning Aleh and Powrie are in a good position to win either gold or silver.
They hold an eight-point lead over Great Britain, with the Netherlands now 23 points behind in third.
With one race before Friday night's double points medal race, it would take some dramatic for Aleh and Powrie to miss out on a medal. They are very consistent performers - their worst result and likely discard after nine races was 10th in the 20-strong fleet - and enjoy the conditions off Weymouth which are similar to New Zealand.
Burling and Tuke's medal is New Zealand's 10th at these Games. Harry Kerr won this country's first in 1908 in the 3500m walk.
- Michael Brown in Weymouth
