KEY POINTS:
With a sister called Calypso and a brother whose middle name is Ocean, 7-year-old Theo Hill was destined to win the America's Cup.
Well, the race he competed in wasn't quite on the scale of Emirates Team New Zealand versus Alinghi - but judging by the Lone Kauri School pupil's expression as his home-made yacht raced to the finish line, he wasn't worried.
The Year Three pupil was awarded a coffee mug wrapped in tinfoil for winning his school's version of the America's Cup on a stream at Karekare beach in West Auckland yesterday.
The 18 children from the school, some flanked by their parents who had skipped work for the day, made miniature boats from flax, ice-block sticks, wood and material, stuck together with glue and nails, as part of a technology unit.
Theo, like some of the other children, blew at his boat to make it go faster.
The design for his "pirate ship", complete with a skull and cross bones on flags, was inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. "But even if I hadn't watched it I would have drawn the skeletons," he quipped.
He didn't know what the America's Cup was but he said he was just glad to win and run around the beach with his schoolmates.
Theo's parents, Candida and Toby Hill, weren't working yesterday so they took their other two children Otis Ocean, 5, and Calypso, 2, along to the race.
"I guess it was meant to be [that he won]. We grew up by the sea so we are sea nymphs," Mrs Hill said. The Hills named their daughter after one of the sea nymphs in Greek mythology.
Runner-up in the race Elio Fortes-Rosser, 5, went at great lengths to explain to the Herald what part of the boat went where and how he'd built it, before running off to play in the sand.
Teacher Viv Mulgrew said most of the pupils didn't have a television at home so they didn't know what the America's Cup was. And a lot of the parents weren't watching the coverage either.
"It's not just that they might not get good reception but that they actually don't want a TV. They'd rather be having fresh air. A lot of the kids' dads are keen sailors though, so the kids are really keen on outdoorsy things."
