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America’s Cup venue is a contentious issue at RNZYS AGM
by RNZYS
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imported a container-load of nine Cherubs from Australia to provide restoration stock.
As CEO of Doyle Sails, Sanderson offered loft support while Southern Spars and Ronstan also came to the party – as did an ice-cream sponsor!
Ray Davies set about building one of the Leech kitset boats in his garage with his son, Hugo. Davies has history in the class and campaigned Cherubs in the 1980s. Back then, his first boat was built in the family garage with his father’s help.
“In fact, four different pairs built boats out of the same moulds in our garage, one of which won the nationals,” Davies recalled. “It was great to repeat that father-son involvement with the next generation and fantastic that my dad was around while Hugo and I were building ours.”
While this revival of an historic New Zealand class and particularly its wholesome focus on family participation has been welcomed, it is not without its tensions. Inevitably, rapid growth and a high degree of publicity around prominent figures in the class brings with it different perspectives and agendas.
This emerged in the wake of the Northland championships in January (also won by the Davies father-son combination) , when Allan Roper, a longtime Spencer disciple and Cherub Abover: Tight competition between the Davies pair (left) and the Sanderson combination. Below: Ray and Hugo Davies building their new Cherub together at home.
stalwart declared he was stepping away. Roper has designed and campaigned a number of Cherubs and his son, Tim, is actively competing at a high level in the class with a carbon and foam Cherub to his father’s design.
Initially, Roper wrote approving articles welcoming the class revival and Sanderson’s role, but he now says he does not like the direction it is taking.
This follows a Facebook post from Sanderson announcing the formation of the NZ Family Cherub Owners’ Association “to help promote, govern and organise these family oriented Cherub events just as we have been having for the last 12 months, but with some more structure and a strong forward plan.”
The thrust of Roper’s objection is not perfectly clear, but it seems to be against “pro sailors” taking over a venerable class and then just as quickly disappearing again, “leaving others to clean up the mess”.
Sanderson and Roper go back a long way. Roper mentored Sanderson’s early sailing and would often pick him up from boarding school to drive him to regattas. Sanderson is grateful for that support, but is not backing away from his current involvement with the class.
“What we have done is very cool, but it was never about reviving the Cherub class for its own sake,” he says. “I am using Cherubs to fill a gap in parent-child sailing in New Zealand.
“Allan Roper feels a strong responsibility to the Spencer legacy and I understand that. But the fact is that when I bought an old Cherub a couple of years ago, the class had died in New Zealand and Allan has acknowledged that.
“I will always defend my vision for family sailing over the history of the class. I won’t apologise or back down from that. For me, it is about getting a wide spectrum of combinations – adults with kids, two kids, two adults, husbands and wives, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons – to do fun regattas using Cherubs as a tool.
“I am very respectful of the Cherub history in the 1960s to 80s,” Sanderson adds, “but I am not going to be bound by Spencer’s concept for the rest of time and I am not going to be bullied by New Zealand’s Cherub legacy.”
Invoking All Black captain Richie McCaw’s philosophy to always leave something better than when you started, Sanderson notes: “Even if we walked away right now, the Cherub would be in a far better position than when we began. It was completely dead. We now have about 30 Cherubs sailing in New Zealand and more in build or under restoration.”
Not that Sanderson is contemplating walking away any time soon. He sees himself having another couple of years sailing with Merrick, by which time his oldest boy will be ready to step up to 29ers. Then Tom, now aged 10, will be ready for his turn.
Meanwhile, Ray Davies is confident that with a bit of diplomacy emotions can be calmed. “Mike Sanderson is doing a fantastic job with a lot of passion. We just need to keep everybody together and talking to each other. We are only trying to keep it fun and all about the kids. There is 99% buy-in from the owners on the direction it is taking.” Words and Photos by Ivor Wilkins
‘I am very respectful of the Cherub history in the 1960s to 80s, but I am not going to be bound by Spencer’s concept for the rest of time ... Mike Sanderson.
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