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