New Zealand - A nation in love with the sea
Since man first stepped ashore on the islands of New Zealand, the sea and sailing have played a vital role in the lives of New Zealanders.
Surrounded by water and isolated from the rest of the world, the nation first relied on sailing craft to bring people to inhabit its islands.
Legend has it that Kupe, a great Maori navigator, first discovered New Zealand more than 1000 years ago.
Kupe guided his waka (wooden sailing canoe) south from the mystical Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki through the waters of the Pacific. He would call the new land he found Aotearoa - Maori for land of the long white cloud.
The people of Polynesia were some of the world's finest boat builders, navigators and sailors. Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, were great sea explorers, venturing through the uncharted waters of the Pacific, the way astronomers today explore space.
They sailed double-hulled waka from the Cook Islands to New Zealand, guided by stellar navigation, reading the night sky to pinpoint their way across the ocean.
European explorers later found New Zealand in larger sailing ships. Dutch navigator Abel Tasman saw the west coast in 1642 and initially christened the land Staten Landt, believing it might be linked to Staten Landt close to Cape Horn. However his initial theory was was soon disproved and the name changed to Nieuw Zeeland after the Netherlands province of Zeeland, and this name stuck. Captain James Cook claimed the country as a British colony after sailing around its islands on the Endeavour in 1769.
The early settlers were reliant on the sea for trade, communications and travel, and had to build strong, seaworthy boats to often sail to the other side of the globe. Timber from New Zealand’s native bush - especially the stands of mighty kauri in Northland - was perfect for boatbuilding.
With 15,811km (9824 miles) of coastline, New Zealanders became adept at sea-handling, and their children learned to sail. They built their own boats in their backyards.
As a child, the late Sir Peter Blake learned the nuances of boatbuilding on the lawns of his North Shore, Auckland, home - while ruining his mother’s flower garden. Acclaimed Kiwi designer Bruce Farr started producing his rocket-ship dinghies and skiffs in the family shed.
Most New Zealand-born America’s Cup sailors - like Dean Barker, Chris Dickson, Craig Monk and Russell Coutts - can trace their sailing roots back to an ugly little dinghy called a P-class, a boat unique to New Zealand.
This small single-handed dinghy was designed in 1920 in the northernmost city of Whangarei by a weekend sailor named Harry Highet. He wanted to design a boat safe for children to sail that could not sink. Today, in yacht clubs the length and breadth of the country, young children sail the little snub-nosed dinghies, cheered on by parents back on shore.
It is said that there are more boats per head of population in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world. There are roughly 80,000 privately-owned boats in Auckland alone, one for every 11 Aucklanders. It is no wonder this sea-bound nation produces some of the world’s finest sailors.
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