16 Breeze Magazine
IN MEMORIAM
Peter Hay
The St Mary’s In Holy Trinity Church in Parnell was packed to capacity for the funeral of Peter Hay, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
Trustee, Life Member and Past Commodore (1994-1996). Peter Hay was the first RNZYS Commodore to welcome the America’s Cup into the club’s trophy collection, following the historic Team New Zealand victory in San Diego in 1995. He is also the only member to have been a Trustee, Life Member and Commodore. Members of the Hay family gave moving accounts of Peter’s five-year battle against cancer under the devoted care of his wife, Jan. They spoke of his childhood years walking on the beach from the family home on the Takapuna clifftop, sailing dinghies at Medlands Beach, playing rugby at Kings College and as a prop for the New Zealand Universities team. “His touch reached far and wide in the community,” said his daughter, Penny, who spoke of his warm smile, tenderness, fun and passion for life. Lifelong friend and sailing partner, Kim McDell said Peter was “a great all-round sailor, but more importantly a good bugger, whether alongside you on the rail in a gale, or enjoying a rum at the after-party”. Hay represented New Zealand in two Southern Cross Cups, including two SydneyHobart classics, two Admiral’s Cups, including two Fastnet races, and a Kenwood Cup in Hawaii. “We called him Bear as he was big and strong, not only in stature, but as a man.” For 25 years, Peter Hay was part of a fourway partnership in the Farr 41MX, Zamzamah, built by McDell Marine. “Pete just loved it and sailed the boat extremely well.” The crew was all of similar vintage and during one race, a crewman on a rival yacht was head to warn, “Watch out for those guys on Zamzamah because they have 700 years of experience aboard.” In January this year, Hay joined the Zamzamah crew for their annual fixture at the Bay of Islands Sailing Week. “He could hardly walk, yet he helmed the boat superbly,” McDell recalled. “We will all have enduring memories of a smiling, determined Peter Hay sailing a terrific race on a beautiful Bay of Islands day.” Exhausted at the end of the race, he was immediately driven back to Auckland. “When Peter got to a stage where he could no longer race, we would see him standing by his precious flagpole at his home in Devonport, waving to us as we sailed by,” said McDell. Peter Baird Hay, 1944 – 2021.
