Special Interest articles

If you have secured your funding, please download the full application form

We work hard to get funding assistance to help young people to take part in our youth development voyages and encourage sponsorship for students. We recommend you contact your nearest Lions Club, Rotary Club or Freemasons in your local community. The Fletcher Building Employee Educational Fund also offers their employees’ dependants funding for voyages (please apply direct). Thanks to the generous support of donations received, business sponsors, community groups such as Lions, Zonta and funding organisations such as Lotteries and Gaming Trusts we also have grants available and are able to reduce the cost of the voyages from $995 per child to between $200-$500 and in some instances at no fee, although a koha is expected.

If you wish to apply for a grant or sponsorship from the R. Tucker Thompson, please download the Grant Application form. 

PDF form also available here

Pauline Moretti

Youth Coordinator

Pauline job shares the youth programmes role with Sophie, responsible for liaising with schools and community groups explaining how our youth development voyages help students to make positive changes in their lives. She’s had wide and varied career in a number of roles but is above all an educator. She has taught Outdoor Education, Tourism and been Project Island Song’s Educator on their Floating Classroom. She’s also worked with the Department of Conservation in a number of community liaison roles as well as run her own adventure kayaking business. Pauline is also a very experienced sailor having spent three years sailing from Borneo to the Caribbean via Cape of Good Hope on board the junk rigged yacht, Zebedee.

Zeran Mackie

Cadet

Zeran is a keen young sailor whose background in sailing started through his experiences of Waka Hourua (a traditional Polynesian sailing catamaran). Zeran has also been aboard the “Tucker” for two youth voyages and is currently undertaking the role of cadet where he will complete his training to acquire his STCW certificate.
Zeran is a driven young Māori tāne who is passionate about learning tikanga and kaupapa Māori as well as embracing the ways of his tūpuna ancestors.

Jane Hindle

Executive Trustee 

Ben Willoughby

Bosun/Senior Master

Ben came to us from across the ditch (Australia). He arrived in New Zealand with his young family to buy a cruising yacht with the goal to experience the world with his wife and 2 daughters. Now with borders closed, he is happily living aboard here and spending time with his NZ family.

Ben has 25 years of tall ship experience, having sailed across 3 oceans and to many countries on square riggers. He sailed on 6 square riggers and was master on 2 and mate on the others. He also worked on 3 gaff tops’l schooners and sailed around the SW Pacific and coastal NZ and Australia on a gaff tops’l cutter that he and his wife owned. We welcome his experience that many thousands of sea miles on similar ships gains.

Suz Te Tai

Trustee

Tim Yeates

Trustee

Mike Simm

Trustee

Bronwyn Hunt

Trustee

Russell Harris

Trustee

Kim Borgstrom

Trustee

Mike Daniel

Chair

Magnus O’Grady

Relief Deckhand

Ethan King

Relief Deckhand

Terry Dunn

Relief Master

Sarianna Crook

Michelle Simperingham

Cadet

Jessica Nadon

Deckhand 

Jess hails from Canada, a French Canadian fluent in both French and English. She owns a sea kayak company in the Yukon Territory, Canada, and has guided groups on overnight wilderness experiences making sure that they were operated in a safe environment. In addition, she has formal qualifications in Special Education and has a background of working with young people including teenagers with behavioural disorders. Jessica has also spent time sailing in the Carribean. She brings her positive nature and cheerful enthusiasm to every voyage to ensure that all our trainees have an amazing experiences on board.

Wayne Karauria

Master

Peter Deverell

Deckhand

Kyra Crouzat

Sales & Operations Manager

Sophie Camplin

Youth Coordinator

Chynna Haney

Deckhand

As a child, Chynna was very adventurous – she spent many days at the beach. She was very in tune with the ocean and grew up doing surf lifesaving club, adventure racing, and many other sports. She even had Moko the dolphin as a swimming companion for many years. He was a huge influence on her career path. In 2014, Chynna took an 8-week trip to Australia, volunteering at the dolphin centre in Bunbury Perth. In 2016 she completed a Marine and Eco-tourism course through Northtec, Kerikeri – this course taught her a lot, including how to sail.

In February 2017, she became one of the core crew aboard the R Tucker Thompson. With the knowledge she has accumulated and her training on the R Tucker Thompson, she and her fiancé have recently purchased a 33 foot yacht in the hopes of one day sailing it offshore.