Graeme and Tonia met while sailing at the Lake Taupo Yacht Club.
Tonia worked the bow on her Fathers yacht and sailed her purple Viking from Two Mile Bay normally accompanied by her Golden Laborador ‘Tina’ who was an expert long distance swimmer.
Graeme at the time was working the bow on a Davidson 31 when he wasn’t sailing his Laser or Javelin in the centreboard classes. Many years of sailing boats of all varieties followed with only a brief hiatus of around 10 years where other sports and business were pursued.
A highlight of those early days was Graeme and Tonia sailing the Javelin ‘Black Tulip’ (a project boat). Graeme handed the helm over to Tonia relishing the opportunity to enjoy some trapeze work. A series of spectacular dunkings followed at high speed (It was really windy) (had to be to get the 80kgs out on the wire). After a short discussion the crew positions were swapped and the boat returned to the beach without much being said. Helming lessons followed and Graeme is now pleased to report that Tonia’s steering skills have improved significantly.
The return to boat ownership was in late 2000 with the 6.5m Elliott Sport Boat ‘Geralda’. This was followed a year or so later by the purchase of ‘Flying Circus’ which was a more suitable boat for Tonia and Graeme to enjoy after an accident left Tonia with a long recovery from limited movement.
Recent additions to the ‘Circus Team’ include son Alexey who has a few years till he joins the race crew and a laser for stress relief although the laser hasn’t been used much so may join the other family boat up in Taupo to provide non petrol powered entertainment.
‘Flying Circus’ has been designated a ‘Project’ and has been on the receiving end of numerous improvements since she joined the family. Future improvements are planned but remain top secret.
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