NZ's Two Top Sea Scouts Head to US to Compete

Another opportunity for two Lyttelton Sea Scouts to take top place in an international competition after coming close to winning two years ago.

Amanda Norris (16 yrs) and Mike Anderson (18 yrs), are representing New Zealand at the biennial Koch Cup in the USA.

Scouts NZ National Water Activities Adviser, Roger Horton says Amanda and Mike are exceptional sailors.

“The skill and talent in these two young people is extraordinary,” he says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw them winning medals at the Olympic Games in the future or sailing in the America’s Cup.” 

This is in fact the 6th year New Zealand Sea Scouts have competed in the Koch Cup – coming second each time. Horton says maybe this is the year to be number one.

“Amanda and Mike came second last year and now they have another opportunity to show they are the best in the world,” he says.

NOTE: Amanda has already left for San Francisco, Mike leaves tomorrow at 5.30pm from Christchurch. Both families have been incredibly supportive of Michael and Amanda’s endeavours, particularly following the earthquakes and how hard Lyttelton was hit.
Ends                                                                                                                                www.scouts.org.nz 

For more information, please contact Ali Jones on 027 247-3112

Additional Info:      http://seascoutcup.org/ssc/index.html

Sea Scouts from around the world are heading to the California Maritime Academy in the San Francisco Bay area of California, USA; the host of the Sixth Koch Cup. This event is open to young men and women ages 14 to 21 years of age who are registered as Sea Scouts in the United States or registered in a BSA recognised scouting organisation in other countries. Two person teams from the US and around the world will test their sailing skills as they race in Flying Dutchman Junior (FJ’s) sailboats.

William I. Koch

Bill Koch's relationship with the Sea Scout programme pre-dates his career as a successful international businessman and winning America's Cup skipper. It began more than 50 years ago when the Wichita, Kansas native enrolled in a summer sailing program at Culver Military Academy in Indiana. Modelled after the Sea Scout Program, Koch cites his early sailing experience as one that would alter the course of his life. "I learned then that the true art of sailing required teamwork, discipline and leadership," he said. "If I could fine tune those skills, then I would be better able to manage the surprises that the sea constantly throws at you."
Koch has done a fine job of honing those skills. He graduated with honours from Culver Military Academy and received his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As the founder of the Oxbow Group, a diversified holding company, Koch, 63, has created a business which Forbes Magazine consistently recognizes as one of the top privately held companies in America.

Using some of the lessons learned from his life-long passion for the sea, Koch created his T3 philosophy - talent, teamwork and technology. Simply put, he encourages employee participation, rewards teamwork and relies on scientific research to make calculated risks. Koch used the T3 approach to win the 1992 America's Cup, the most coveted prize in sailing. "Ordinary people doing things extraordinarily well as a team will beat - every time - a bunch of superstars with their accompanying egos," he told his team of amateur sailors when the sailing experts had discounted them at the start of their America's Cup campaign.
Koch designed, built and created The William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup to foster the lessons born out of the Sea Scout Programme. The biannual regatta recognizes young adults who are willing to learn leadership through seamanship.