Our People

It is our people who make the Trust so special. Our Masters and Crew look after the young people on their voyages, giving them an experience of a lifetime, and also – during summer – share their enthusiasm and passion for the work we do with visitors to the Bay of Islands.

He aha te mea nui o te ao
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people

Māori whakatauki (Māori proverb)

Peter Murphy

Master

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Peter Murphy – Master

Peter Murphy has been sailing since he was a boy, and has worked on boats for over 30 years. Having worked in all corners of the marine industry, he began his career in sail training and has since then moved to being a delivery captain for vessels all around the world. Originally from the States, New Zealand is now his home with his partner and two young daughters. Peter and his whanau have dropped anchor in the Bay of Islands, and now reside here on their 52 ft Junk Rig Schooner.

Peter says he loves teaching people to sail, and as a father himself, he’s the perfect fit to get our Trainees inspired out on the water. Our Tucker whanau is growing, and we’re so proud to bring on Peter along with his extensive knowledge.

Magnus O’Grady

Master

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Magnus O’Grady – Operations Assistant

Magnus worked for the Trust in 2017 as a deckhand, and is excited to be back.

From then, he operated and owns New Zealand Sea Kayak Adventures (currently in post-covid hibernation), before setting sail with his wife and 2-year old daughter around the world.

Magnus grew up watching the Tucker sail around the bay, and fits right in with our kaupapa and whanau. His enthusiasm, energy and eagerness makes him the man for the job.

operations@tucker.co.nz

Rangi Ferris

Bosun/Master

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Rangi Ferris – Bosun

Rangi is a shipwright and rigger and he works with us as our Bosun. He is passionate about square-rig sailing, woodwork, carpentry and steam engines, but mostly about working on traditional vessels. He came to us after spending 6 years at the Maritime Museum in Auckland, where he worked maintaining their fleet of vessels. Rangi’s Mum is from the USA and his Dad is from NZ; he grew up in Port Townsend, home of the Wooden Boat Festival. He is a sailing instructor and has his maritime qualifications. Rangi has his own boat and spends time working on both his boat and ours. We are very lucky to have Rangi in our team taking care of The Good Ship.

bosun@tucker.co.nz

Tom Macfarlane

Crew and Youth

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Tom Macfarlane – Crew/Deckhand

Tom is one of our crew members and our conservation warrior. He’s a multi-talented member of our team and has an impressive background in Outdoor Education, research and Science Communication. With an honours degree in physical education and an impressive knowledge of Tikanga Māori, he has a lot of experience under his belt. His aim is to “keep doing everything possible in the now towards being a good ancestor for those to come in the future”.

Connor De Ardenne

Crew and Youth

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Connor Ardenne

Connor is a very experienced in the outdoors as a Field Coordinator, Senior Facilitator, Outdoor Educator in Tourism. He is highly qualified in coordinating programmes and managing staff, logistics and training and mentoring in the outdoors. He also tackles a bunch of his own adventures; he has cycled from the East Coast to the West Coast of the USA, motorbiked North to South Laos to Vietnam and completed a Freediving internship with Freediving Academy Panglao. Connor is kind and calm, patient and professional, we are stoked to have him on our team.

Arihi Reihana

Crew and Youth

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Arihi Reihana – Crew / Deckhand

Arihi has has a successful and impressive 19 year career with the New Zealand Defence Force in the Army. Of Ngāpuhi descent, she recently moved to back Kawakawa, Northland with her whānau.

Formerly known as Sergeant Arihi Reihana, she spent most of her career training soldiers and spent many years overseas, including Egypt to serve in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) on peacekeeping responsibilities. She was responsible for survey of the weapon line and calculating firing data for the weapons, L119 105mm Light Gun and the L16 81mm Mortar.

She was also deployed to Afghanistan, East Timor and has been on overseas exercises in Hawaii and Alaska. It’s fair to say, she has some stories to tell.

Arihi says that she’s most looking forward to working with our rangatahi, developing new skills and re-connecting with her whenua. She’s a kind soul, with determination to work with rangatahi, and helping our youth push through mental and physical boundaries.

We’re so stoked to have her on board with us, and we know she’ll be such an inspiration to our rangatahi on board our Youth Voyages and out in the community. Welcome Arihi!

Rachel Lawrence

Crew and Youth

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Rachel Lawrence – Crew and Youth

Rachel joins the Tucker whānau with a rich background and senior experience in Outdoor Education and Tourism. We are completely thrilled to have Rach’s level of expertise on the team. Rachel has spent the last decade leading young people in the outdoors, travelling the world and taking on her own personal challenges in the outdoors.

Rach loves adventure, she cycled the length of NZ, took on freediving in the Philippines, went sport climbing in Thailand, Laos and motorbiked her way from North to South of Vietnam, what a legend!! We are very lucky to have this young lady on our team.

Kelly Hamilton

Youth Manager

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Kelly Hamilton – Youth Manager

Kelly is our Youth Manager and she brings with her a wealth of professional knowledge is programme design, outdoor education and a keen interest in psychology, behaviour and youth work. She has been a key member of Outward Bound team in Anakiwa and has recently spent a year with The Prince’s Trust in the UK. Kelly is from Northern Ireland and loves to spend time with her family in the outdoors. We are thrilled to have Kelly on the case helping the young people in Northland on board our waka.

Sophie Camplin

Business Manager

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Sophie Camplin – Youth Coordinator

Sophie job-shares our youth programmes with Pauline, and looks after the adminstrative side of the youth development voyages. A young mother of two girls, Sophie started her career with the R. Tucker Thompson as Deckhand. She then progressed to Master, where she was responsible for skippering tourism sailings as well as the youth development voyages. She therefore knows the ship and how the Trust operates extremely well. With two young daughters to look after, Sophie now works mostly from home, juggling a number of roles to ensure that berths are filled with the right students on any given voyage.

accounts@tucker.co.nz

Catherine Langford

Chief Executive

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Catherine Langford – Chief Executive

Catherine Langford is our Chief Executive. Catherine’s background is in communications and marketing, and she has a strong thread of volunteering in the environment and youth arena. She comes to us from the Ministry for the Environment where she worked as an engagement practitioner, and prior to this the Far North District Council. A long-time resident of the Bay of Islands, Catherine lives with her partner Pete and son Oak and enjoys sailing on their boat, Undine, a gaff-rigged 1887 Northland cargo cutter.

“I’m a huge believer in the power of the natural environment to support our rangatahi to develop the skills and confidence to participate in their communities and actively shape their futures,” Catherine said.

Terry Dunn

Relief Master

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Terry Dunn – Relief Master

Terry grew up in Wellington, learning to sail in extreme conditions and spending his formative years in the Sea Scouts rowing around on pitch black nights playing Smugglers and sinking the enemy. He has never lost his love of just “playing around in boats”. He moved to the Bay of Islands in his twenties and purchased the classic gaff cutter Aorere. It was also the start of many years cruising the Bay of Islands, the Northland coast and offshore voyages to the Pacific.
In 1990 he started Great Escape Yacht Charters and Sailing School teaching to provide affordable sailing options in the Bay. Over the years he operated a fleet of 14 yachts, passing on his enthusiasm and love of sailing to Kiwis and international visitors alike.
After he and his wife Cindy sold Great Escape, he joined R Tucker Thompson as a relief skipper and he is a welcome addition for our youth voyages and day sails alike.

Marcel De Wilde

Master

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Marcel De Wilde – Master

Marcel comes to us from the Spirit of New Zealand. He lives and breathes the sailing ocean life, sailing since he was 8 years old, he lives on his own boat, now in the Bay of Islands and previously in the Auckland harbour. Sailing is his absolute passion, as is working with youth, Marcel is excited to merge his love for sailing with a really cool career in youth development as our skipper.

Frank Allica

Relief Master

Trustees

Tim Yeates

Chairman

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Tim Yeates – Chairman

Tim has spent his entire working life within the marine industry. His first working experiences were on motor ships and and as a Deckhand on board the R. Tucker Thompson. From there, Tim was the Operations Manager of Marine Contractors Limited for eight years, based in the Bay of Islands. Tim then spent two years as Construction Manager for Northland Piling and Contracting (based in Opua). This company, which he now co-owns, now trades as Total Marine Services Limited. Tim can attest to his extensive experience in salvage work and construction knowledge.

Dr Mark Long

Trustee

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Dr Mark Long – Trustee

Mark is first and foremost a husband and a father. His family anchors him and Mark lives to make meaningful impact with others so his daughter, Maia, and son, Neo,grow up in a world that is more connected. He was born on Vancouver Island in Canada and grew up in the Manawatū. Mark now lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and travels across the country with his business, Strategy Matters Limited, working with leadership and governance teams as a high-performance coach.

Mark has held senior-level leadership roles in corporate, government, and not-for-profit organisations for more than 10 years. From leading staff and volunteer groups of 5,000+, Mark brings a solid understanding of how to govern for the effective implementation of policies, culture, and development initiatives for the Tucker, our people, and those we serve, to thrive!

‘Having lived in Ōpua for some time as a youth, I remember the Tucker as a true icon of the Bay. The impact the organisation has on young people is inspiring, and I look forward to making a contribution to elevate our kaupapa further for the benefit of everyone across Te Tai Tokerau’ said Mark.

Jon Moore

Trustee

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Jon Moore – Trustee

Jon is a motivated businessman, with extensive experience in the maritime and tourism industry. He has managed multiple companies in New Zealand and currently acts as the Chief Execute Officer for Northport Ltd, Marsden Point. As a boatie himself, he has spent his life on the water, and understands the industry inside and out. Jon will be a great asset to our business operations, and will provide valuable insight and advice into management and operations of our Trust.

Karen Gilbert-Smith

Trustee

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Karen Gilbert-Smith – Trustee

Karen is the current Principal of Whangarei Boys High School and CEO to their Board of Trustees. Amongst the impressive range of work, she has led teaching and learning initiatives to improve outcomes for Māori and Pasifika students and built partnerships with local community, hapu and OBA. Passionate about her community, youth and education, her years of experience in the education system will prove valuable to the Trust to ensure we help all our trainees reach their individual potential.

Ross Blackman

Trustee

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Ross Blackman – Trustee

Ross has worked and sailed internationally for the past 45 years and now calls Russell home. He started his career as a sailmaker in Sydney then after Christchurch, Canada and the USA he joined Tom Schnackenberg to bring the North Sails brand to New Zealand. This led to his first America’s Cup campaign with the “Big Boat” in 1988 and in subsequent campaigns since in roles ranging from sailmaker, business manager and CEO of Team New Zealand. In between, Ross and his wife Jo have cruised extensively throughout the Pacific, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean in their yacht. Ross’s vast experience will prove valuable to the management and operations of our Trust.

Work for us

If you are interested in working for us, you will need to be a New Zealand citizen, resident or have a valid work visa. Check our Jobs page for any new job openings, or email a cover letter and CV info@tucker.co.nz.

We are looking for people who have alignment with our values and have the right personality to support our work with young people.

Enquire Now