Celebrities race ex-Team New Zealand boats

Celebrities race ex-Team New Zealand boats

Kiwi and Australian sporting celebrities will be racing two ex-Team New Zealand Etchells on the Plimmerton harbour this Friday 17 October at noon.

Volunteering their time, a star-studded crew will be helping to raise awareness of the Mana Youth Sailing Trust (MYST) — a trust established to foster youth sailing in the Wellington Region. On deck will be:

Jill Westenra - Four-time Coast to Coast champion

Melissa Moon - Current World Mountain Running Champion and World Stair Running Champion

Robyn Wong - 2002 NZ National Mountain Bike Champion and 49th in World Mountain Biking ranks

Suzie Pearce - Current Black Sticks Mid-fielder, 2002 Commonwealth Games, Most Capped Player

Niniwa Roberts Lang - Current Black Sticks striker, 2002 Commonwealth Games

Philip Burrows - Current NZ Men’s Hockey team striker, Champions Cup, 2002 Commonwealth Games

Brent Livermore - Current Australian Kookaburra Mid-fielder, Most Capped Australian, Awarded Kookaburras Player of the Year for 2001

MYST is a joint initiative between Wellington Yachting Development and the Mana Cruising Club.

“We want to encourage a wider community to experience all the thrills and spills of sailing, to learn from the challenges racing presents, and to have a lot of fun at the same time” said Neil Verry Trust committee member and Yachting Wellington Development Co-ordintator.
Gifted to MYST by Team New Zealand in June this year, the Etchell’s are ideal youth training keelboats.

“We were absolutely thrilled with the generous donation. The Etchells are excellent training boats for the youth as the design puts the emphasis on boat handing, sailing skills and trim. Also with a maximum of four crew allowed on each boat, participants not only learn team building and leadership skills, but they gain experience in sailing an international class vessel, skills that they can later travel with.” Verry adds.

To raise additional funds for the Trust so that more people can experience the joys of sailing, the Etchells are also available for public and corporate race days.

To find out more information about MYST visit http://www.myst.org.nz

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