Pacific sojourn sparked passion for sailing

By Suzanne McFadden

Barry McKay's dad towed him around the South Pacific for two years, sparking his passion for sailing.

Now Bruce McKay will be towing his son out onto the Hauraki Gulf each day to defend the America's Cup.

Father and son have very different roles in the Team New Zealand campaign.

Barry, 31, is one of New Zealand's most versatile sailors, with America's Cups, round-the-world race victories and world speed records on his CV.

He has also helped to build some of the country's best racing yachts and has played a major hand in co-ordinating the construction of Team New Zealand's new black boats.

Bruce McKay is a Paihia fisherman who will drive the TNZ tender - a crayfish boat done out in black livery - towing the yachts out to the race course every day.

When Barry was 10, the McKay family left Dunedin in their cruising yacht and spent two years sailing in the Pacific.

"That will always be with me," he says. "I know I was pretty lucky to have that - it gave me an unforgettable experience."

It spurred McKay to take up a boat builder's apprenticeship in Auckland.

He has since helped to build Steinlager I and II, the four New Zealand Challenge boats for the 1992 America's Cup, Chris Dickson's round-the-world yachts and refitted the monster catamaran Enza.

McKay also sailed on most of those yachts - joining Sir Peter Blake to win the Whitbread in 1986, and break the round-the-globe record in 1994.

He was mastman on NZL20 in San Diego eight years ago and joined the Team New Zealand shore crew late in the '95 campaign.

Today, he is a pitman - a physically demanding job in the cockpit controlling the bank of winches and lines which raise and lower the sails. He controls the timing of the manoeuvres with the foredeck crew.

McKay is also the co-ordinator between the sailors and the builders on shore determining the schedule for manufacturing new components for the test programme.

"More than we realise, this cup will be about having a reliable boat," he said. "It wasn't quite as important in San Diego, where the wind range wasn't as extreme as it is here.

"It all comes down to the set-up and having confidence in your boat."

That's why McKay found it important to temper the excitement of the sailors who wanted to get the new boat, NZL57, out on the water.

"We really wanted to get the boat set up right. We don't want to waste time later having to re-do it. Hopefully we'll end up with a better boat for it.

"Everybody's quietly excited right now. These are great days ... how lucky could we be?"