Jon Ziskind - Oracle BMW Racing, United States

	Jon Ziskind (left), headsail trimmer and keen fisherman, Oracle BMW Racing.

In 1999-2000 he was with America True and now he’s onboard Larry Ellison’s Oracle BMW Racing team.

A headsail trimmer, Jon is a graduate from the University of Rhode Island.

He has a sailing background in various classes of keel boats, with experience in both fleet and match racing competition.

Jon's wife Heidi is also back in New Zealand after joining Jon for the 1999-2000 campaign.

Q: What activities do you enjoy while you’re in New Zealand?

A: We like to go hiking, surfing or fly-fishing.

For surfing, we look to the West Coast beaches out of Auckland like Piha, Muriwai, Bethels Beach or Raglan. When we go fishing, we head to Taupo or Turangi. We’ve made 10 trips down there in the last year or so and we’ve caught fish every time!

Heidi likes hiking more than fishing and wherever we go there are just so many fantastic walks. Sometimes we get together with Tom Burnham (from Prada Challenge) and his wife Alessandra to go on hiking trips. We’ve done the Routeburn Track in the South Island and we’ve also been kayaking in the Marlborough Sounds.

When we did the Routeburn Track, we bought an old car to drive down there and then toured the South Island. All we did was camp. We never saw a hotel room. The South Island was just the most amazing place I’ve been to in my life. We were camping by rivers and glaciers – unbelievable!

Q: What does Heidi enjoy about living here?

A: Being an outdoors person, she likes the fact it’s such an outdoor country. You can work in Auckland but drive only 20 minutes out of the city and find some of the most beautiful places in the world to go for a walk. She really likes that.

Q: What tourist attractions and activities have you taken in here?

A: The Franz Josef Glacier was a big one, but we haven’t done any of the activities like bungy jumping or that sort of thing. Most of what we’ve seen has been through hiking. We haven’t been to Milford Sound yet, but we plan to do that this time. We also want to do the Abel Tasman National Park.

We’ve also been to the Bay of Islands for a weekend, where we rented a house right on the water and went out to do some fishing. I was on a charter boat and our group caught 25 fish in no time. Couldn’t believe it!

Q: You live in San Francisco. What are the big differences you notice about life here?

A: I don’t want to sound like I’m bagging the United States, but back home everything is about theme parks and catering for the masses. In this country you’re free to do what you want. You can pull over on the side of the road on the way to, say Taupo, and walk down these huge gorges. You couldn’t do that at home.

Q: What would you rate as your favourite holiday destinations in New Zealand?

A: Near Auckland, it would be Turangi. Otherwise anywhere in the South Island.