Boardsailing Medallists launch Tornado campaign

by Richard Gladwell on 7 Oct 2005 The Olympic Tornado campaign of Aaron McIntosh and Bruce Kendall was launched in a function at Royal Akarana Yacht Club, this evening. Attended by a mix of sailors, supporters and media, the two Olympic boardsailing medallists spoke of the task ahead of them.

The launch was opened by Yachting NZ CEO, Des Brennan, who welcomed the campaign to the Yachting NZ fold, and went on to background some of the recent developments on the NZ Olympic Yachting scene over the past few months. “It has been a fairly big ten days in yachting as far as we are concerned. We have this campaign coming together. We have had Andrew Murdoch win a Bronze medal in the world Laser Championships in Brazil, along with some other fantastic results this year. We have also had the announcement of $6.1million of funding for our High Performance and Olympic program – which wasn’t something that was easily achieved.’

‘We got about the same level of funding as Rowing and Cycling. But whatever you get, it is never enough.

‘Our goal is to achieve two Olympic medals in Beijing and three in London – and it is great to have these two seasoned campaigners back and we wish them all the very best’, Brennan added.

‘We have a lot to learn’, said McIntosh. ‘I know that Bruce and I can work well together. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but aren’t afraid doing the hard yards.’

‘The problem with the Tornado is that everybody that sails in it thinks it is the ultimate class, and don’t want to move on – so the standard is very high.

‘Although Bruce and I haven’t done a lot of sailing together yet, the time we have spent together has felt very good, and he’s picked things up quickly.’

The Tornado will be the first crewing role for Kendall, who won Bronze and Gold Medals in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics respectively. He then finished fourth in the 1992 Olympics before handing over the boardsailing mantle to McIntosh and became his coach for the 1996 Olympics, where McIntosh finshed fourth going on to win a Bronze medals in the 2000 Olympics. Both started their sailing careers in Auckland’s Buckland Beach, also the home base for Kendall’s sister, Barbara who won Olympic Gold Silver and Bronze medals in the Boardsailing event.

Actually sailing in the Tornado is a long-held ambition for Kendall. ‘When I first started doing my windsurfing career I always seemed to wind up in Los Angeles parked up against the Tornado guys. It was always my goal to go out one day for a joyride in one a Tornado catamaran. I never achieved that until last year – that is a long time in coming. When the opportunity came up to sail with Aaron, I thought it was just a fantastic opportunity. I’d much rather be racing with Aaron rather than against him.’

Kendall takes over from Mark Kennedy who crewed for McIntosh throughout their Olympic campaign in 2004 and missed Olympic qualification for NZ by a single place. During that time Kennedy suffered from glandular fever, and has chosen to step aside for the time being to complete his recovery. Kennedy, who was top P-class and youth sailor, and world champion in the 29er class, will stay with Kendall and McIntosh in a support role.

The campaign is backed by McIntosh’s long-time sponsor, Line 7, who have been joined by Southern Spars. Other sponsorship is being sought both for the campaign and a series of extreme events associated with sailing generally. First of these is likely to be an entry in the HSBC Coastal Classic from Auckland to the Bay of Islands, accompanied by a support boat. Other innovative events are also planned.

See their excellent Tornado campaign website:
www.aaronmcintosh.co.nz