About Us

The R. Tucker Thompson is operated by a not-for-profit charitable Trust on behalf of the people of Taitokerau Northland. All income derived from our commercial activities is used for her maintenance and to provide a contribution to help our taitamariki teenagers access our youth development voyages.

The R. Tucker Thompson

The ship was originally owned in partnership by Tod Thompson, Greta Simmonds and Russell Harris until 1992, when Russell purchased Tod and Greta’s shares in the ship. On reaching retirement, Russell wanted to protect the future of this iconic ship. He transferred her into a Trust on 6 June 2006, for the benefit of the people of Te Taitokerau Northland. He still remains involved on the Board of Trustees along with 7 others who contribute their time willingly to support the Trust.

We pride ourselves on being a ship that is accessible to all, to continue creating lifelong memories for people of all ages; young and old, Māori and Pākehā, visitors and Northlanders alike.

Our Mission

Learning for life through the sea.

Through embracing the values of Kaitiakitanga – GuardianShip, we wish to:

Our Vision

To provide a variety of activities and opportunities to enable and inspire as many people as possible to share in the R. Tucker Thompson
To maintain the ship in top condition to therefore preserve the tradition of tall ship sailing and marlinspike skills
To promote local employment and the vocational growth of our community
To optimize trading (commercial) results in order to foster and promote training results
That the R.Tucker Thompson will be an iconic product in the Bay of Island, New Zealand
To create a secure financial base from which to expand the influence of the R.Tucker Thompson

Our values | Nga Uara

We are a values-driven organisation, one that operates under the principles of whanaungatanga, bringing people together as a family. The things which are important to us are:

Our philosophy

We are a learning organisation and over the past three decades, we have trained many crew in the “Tucker way”. A large number of our former crew have gone on to be Masters in their own right and had or have full time careers in the Maritime industry. Some have worked all round the world on super yachts, others are tourism boat masters and a number of them are running their own Charter businesses.

Supporting our community

As Te Tai Tokerau Northland’s tall ship, we are proud to support our community. We are pleased to offer gift vouchers for a sail where the recipient organisation aligns with our giving criteria.

This includes:

School fundraisers for Taitokerau Northland schools and kura
Fundraising in support of local youth groups or other Tai Tokerau Northland youth initiatives
Local community groups such as Lions and Rotary who are actively supporting the community
Tai Tokerau Northland fundraising initiatives for specific community projects

For members of community groups, we have special rates and special sailings so that your group can enjoy a sailing on board the R. Tucker Thompson. Please contact us to see how we can help.

Annual Reports

The Trust’s financial year runs from 1st June to 31st May, with our Annual Report being published in November. Our annual reports provide a great and easy-to-read overview of the Trust’s work; and how we earn income through our tourism sailings in the Bay of Islands as well as how those funds are then applied for our youth development voyages, developing leadership, confidence and teamwork for the young people of Te Tai Tokerau Northland.

Previous reports