Waikato land and sea Scouts sail to Northland Regatta success in a borrowed boat

Scouts and Venturers from Kirikiriroa & St Peter's Scout Group in Hamilton with their haul of nine pennants, and two trophies won in the Northland Regatta. Photo / Rebecca Payne

Scouts and Venturers from Kirikiriroa & St Peter’s Scout Group won the Senior Scout Standard Cutter Trophy at the Scouts Aotearoa Northland Zone Regatta after crossing the finish line at Kai Iwi Lakes first with Venturer Alice Field, 17, at the helm.

“We nearly missed out on entering the cutter classes at all after taking our second cutter out of service a month before the regatta,” said Group Leader for Scouts and Venturers, Chris Gardner.

“Cutter 210 failed a swamp test at our annual ‘capsize camp’ at Lake Arapuni where we discovered her buoyancy tanks had sprung a leak. Sadly, Cutter 129 was taken out of service with the same problem last year. So, I got on the phone to the regatta organisers and asked if we could borrow a cutter during the regatta. Thankfully, Shackleton Sea Scout Group in Whangārei was able to oblige.”

Scott Aitken, Group Leader for Keas and Cubs, said: “We’ve been quoted $7500 each to repair Cutter 129 and 210, and just over $15,000 per boat to replace them.

“But being a not-for-profit youth organisation we simply don’t have the funds available - which is sad as it’s the youth that ultimately misses out. The Scout Standard Cutter is the only vessel we can safely take our younger sections of Keas and Cubs on the water.”

Kirikiriroa & St Peter's Scout Group youth participating in the Northland Regatta. Photo / Dawei Wang

The Northland Regatta win came on March 12 after the group came third in the Cutter Sailing Junior and Intermediate classes with Scout Hamish Smith, 12, and Venturer Kaylee Rossbotham, 14, respectively at the helm.

These placements earned Kirikiriroa & St Peter’s a Cutter Sailing Aggregate second-place pennant.

Kirikiriroa & St Peter’s Scout Group also won the Sunburst Sailing Senior Class with Venturer Reuben Harris, 17, at the helm.

Reuben received the Air New Zealand Award at the Scouts Aotearoa Walsh Memorial Flying School in Matamata in January where he achieved exceptional results in his ground and flying assessments and examination - which suggests he can fly in the air as well as on the water.

Kirikiriroa & St Peter’s Scout Group also came third in Seamanship Intermediate and Seamanship Aggregate Awards, and the Ironman Senior Award.

The total haul was nine pennants, including one for participation, and two trophies.

“This meant we were one pennant and trophy away from having one souvenir each for the eight Scouts and four Venturers we took to the event,” said Gardner.

The Kirikiriroa & St Peter’s team was assisted by a few Scouts and Venturers from the country’s northernmost Scout group in Doubtless Bay, who joined the Hamilton crew for the weekend.

“The team of Scouts, Venturers and Kaiarahi [leaders] have worked extremely hard over the last months to get ready for the regatta,” said Scouts Aotearoa Waikato Zone water activities adviser Dave Smith.

“The sailing conditions on the Saturday were challenging for our youth, most of whom are relatively new to sailing, with winds frequently gusting over 15 knots. The high winds combined with lots of capsizes really tested their mettle and was certainly character-building!”

Membership of Kirikiriroa & St Peter’s Scout Group has grown 51 per cent in the past year since land Scout group Kirikiriroa partnered with sea Scout group St Peter’s to bring land and sea Scouting to all members.

Kirikiriroa found itself homeless in 2021 after its meeting place in Grandview Road, Hamilton, was demolished to make way for social housing. Its previous home, St Columba’s Parish Hall, was demolished in 2020 to make way for additional parking.

To learn more about the group visit www.kspsg.org.nz or email kirikiriroa.stpeters@group.scouts.nz to sponsor the group.