Greerton residents, Lyn and Graeme McCarty enjoy tracking the achievements of their youngest son Brendan who lives in Valencia, Spain.
For the past 4 years Brendan has been the captain of a 20-metre famous New York 40 classic class racing yacht from 1916 named “Rowdy”. During this time Brendan and his Rowdy crew have either won or been on the podium (15 x 1sts, 2 x 2nds, 2 x 4ths, 1 x 6th) from 20 regattas, culminating in winning his division of the 2017 Panerai Mediterranean Marconi vintage series.
Paving the path to success
Brendan commenced his sailing career aged 10 in a Sabot followed by a Laser Radial in which he represented NZ at the World Championships in Los Angeles 2007.
He later began a sail-making apprenticeship in a small loft in Opua, Northland and three years later, having completed his internship, decided that Superyachts was the path for him, so he obtained his Yacht master certification and headed overseas.
Aiming to keep good company
After some quality time on the big boats, Brendan had a realisation that he missed centre-board sailing and decided to also chase his childhood dream to compete in Finn sailing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, hopefully by representing New Zealand.
Over 3.6 million people watched Finn sailing at the Rio Olympics and the sport reached 1.8 million users on Facebook. Part of what feeds the audience’s enthusiasm is the live media feed from competitors’ Go Pro cameras during the races.
“The Finn is an amazing boat that has produced some of the best sailors ever to live, such as the great Paul Elvstrom, Sir Ben Ainsley and of course our own Sir Russell Coutts”, says Brendan. “I figure, if I make it in this fleet, it will be an achievement I can hold proud for life.”
On his Olympic quest, ‘our Brendan’ is looking for sponsorship in exchange for “unprecedented marketing support”. To promote your export brand in international waters, contact Brendan directly: brendan2020@baywaka.com.
If you want to join Brendan’s crew, you can visit his web site: nzyachtconsultants.com.
By Lyn McCarty
I write for this magazine because in 2020 you can say, “I first heard about it in the Bay Waka”.
