Hawke's Bay artists Rowan Baker, Bruce Jackson and Aaron Greaves have spent the past few weeks creating a model of Te Rehutai ahead of the America's Cup Match. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke's Bay artists Rowan Baker, Bruce Jackson and Aaron Greaves have spent the past few weeks creating a model of Te Rehutai ahead of the America's Cup Match. Photo / Warren Buckland
While it might not win any races any time soon, a model of Team New Zealand's yacht created by a trio of Hawke's Bay artists is no less elegant.
Rowan Baker, Bruce Jackson and Aaron Greaves have spent the past few weeks creating a replica of the yacht, Te Rehutai,ahead of Wednesday's big America's Cup match.
Hastings-based carver Greaves was the inspiration behind the piece and said it was something he had been thinking about for many years.
"Growing up in Hawke's Bay close to the sea and going surfing, that pulls me towards anything to do with the water," he said.
"My love for simple organic forms leans naturally towards the kind of free-flowing forms of water and what a sail does when it's blowing in the wind."
Although he wouldn't describe himself as a huge sports fan, he regularly follows the lead-up to the America's Cup.
Greaves also has a personal connection - his uncle, Ray Davies, is the coach of Emirates Team New Zealand.
He said yachting was a big part of his dad and uncle's lives and he has fond memories of watching yachts go by from his grandmother's home in Mairangi Bay looking out over Rangitoto.
Not much larger than one's hand, the model yacht is made of pounamu, kauri and silver,
Greaves said enlisting the help of carver Rowan Baker and silver worker Bruce Jackson involved "stepping out of [his] comfort zone".
"I could have done it all in stone but I liked the idea of having a native timber aspect to it.
"That's paying respect and homage to the kauri tree and how it was used by the sailing ships in the early days for masts and repairs."
Bruce Jackson and Aaron Greaves putting the finishing touches on their model of the America' Cup yacht ahead of Wednesday's race. Photo / Warren Buckland
He has no idea how many hours the three of them spent working on the piece over the past few weeks but estimates he spent about 30 hours on the sails.
One of the most challenging parts of the project was working with the tools he had.
"The hard thing was always just seeing the boat in photos. It was trying to get the look of the wind catching the front sail and then the wing of the main sale right.
"I didn't necessarily have the tools I need to make the shape so it was adapting the tools I had to get the curves right."
Greaves said he was looking forward to presenting the carving for display at the Emirates Team New Zealand headquarters on Thursday.
The 36th match for sailing's America's Cup, between defender Team New Zealand and Italian challenger Luna Rossa, kicks off in Auckland on Wednesday after the relaxation of Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
The cup match was due to begin on Saturday but was pushed back when Auckland moved to alert level 3 after a small community outbreak.
