NZ Sailing

NZ Sailing started in 2005 when Mike Pasco was inspired to try and get more children out on the water and sailing. He could see the benefits for children (and adults) from getting out there into nature rather than sitting in front of a screen of some description. The Mahurangi and Kerikeri College Sailing Teams were a great example of this to Mike and so when Yachting NZ stopped funding Stephanie Hazzard and her Koru Match team before the 2012 Olympics it was great that NZ Sailing, which had been started partly because of Stephanie's example with Mahurangi College Team, was able to help Koru Match reach their goal of going to the Olympics. Mike started teaching children how to sail at the Manly Sailing Club and continually hit the problem that after the 6 week Yachting NZ course the children and parents were keen to continue Sailing but they couldn't afford it. Mike wondered why everything else in the world seemed to have got cheaper but "Sailing" and "Watersports" gear was so expensive? Mike was on a sabbatical so he decided to investigate if he could find out if Sailing and Watersport gear users were being "ripped off"? From that investigation he understood that the market was getting smaller and smaller and businesses were increasing their profit margins to make up for lost sales. It seemed like viscous circle with higher prices leading to less sales so requiring even higher prices and development of monopolies as fewer and fewer businesses were left selling Sailing and Watersports gear