Outstanding Achievements
On Chinese social media information evenings Wayne was instrumental in facilitating and promoting Junior Learn to Sail programs to the local community. The uptake was strong and the Junior Learn to Sail program at BBYC became oversubscribed. Wayne was able to translate and explain to parents what the students were doing and take them out in RIBs to see what their children were doing from the water.
Wayne is dedicated to both educating the community about sailing and creating opportunities to access boating, particularly building up grassroots youth sailing. Wayne is also well connected with the business community, with Chinese business networks and understands the variety of opportunities of sailing and boating available to them, eliminating any barriers and making entry level easy.
Wayne is well known for his ability to create and nurture meaningful cross-cultural relationships to ensure that NZ is a great destination for investment, education, and business. This is evident as he is the founder of ShareBoating, which provides and adds value to the marine and yachting industry, attracting local and international participation to these activities. Wayne and ShareBoating are partnered with the NZ Sailing Trust to create experiences for new and upcoming markets, especially the Chinese market. Wayne has been appointed as the Cultural Ambassador for the NZ Sailing Trust with the objective to bring young Asian students onto designated youth programs. In addition to getting more youth on the water, the NZST has had a number of open days, business charters, and networking evenings for business clients to communicate the incredible story of what the Trust does. This activity has proven very useful in the wider community and the interest has been strong due to the promotion and sharing on social media, in particular Skykiwi and WeChat.
This activity paved a way for Wayne, a member of RNZYS, to develop several events for the Chinese community during the running of the 36th America’s Cup regatta in Auckland.
Wayne is hugely dedicated to boating, sailing and educating people about sailing, with the ultimatel intention of getting them out on the water. Wayne devotes his personal time to this and has made his passion part of his work. He has achieved all of this in a relatively short timeframe since 2019 and we look forward to seeing what Wayne can achieve for the sport over the next 3 years.
Key Facts
- The first Asian Rear Commodore – Power in New Zealand. Now serving in his third term since 2019..https://www.times.co.nz/news/first-asian-commodore-at-bucklands-beach-yacht-club/
- Played a key role in promoting awareness and participation to the wider community of Junior Learn to Sail courses. Junior Learn to sail programs have reached an historical record high due to participation of Asian students. https://www.yachtingnz.org.nz/news/aon-club-month-bucklands-beach-yc
- Obtained from Fisher and Paykel the engagement and support to sponsor the Bucklands Beach Yacht Club 2021 awards and future events.
- Increased awareness and visitation to the AC36 Cup Village by promoting the 36th America’s Cup to the wider community via multiple social media platforms and online media.
- Recognized by Skykiwi, the largest, most influential China media channel in NZ, as the most prolific sports columnist writing over 29 articles for the 36th America’s Cup and selected as Skykiwi’s sports columnist. https://www.times.co.nz/news/huang-a-hit-during-americas-cup/
- Held a talk show with Skykiwi about sailing and the 36th America’s Cup which drew a massive audience of 193,000!
- Initiated the America’s Cup NZ Forum for the wider community and facilitated three successful events.
- Volunteered at the Cup Village, Viaduct, Auckland during the 36th America’s Cup.
- Volunteered at the NZ Olympic Committee headquarters, at the Cloud, Auckland during the 2020 Olympic Games and contributed photos to the NZ Olympic Committee.
- Appointed Cultural Ambassador by the Doc Edge Festival 2021 and played a role in the success of the World Premiere of The Garden of Evil, a film about Sir Peter Blake, by engaging the Asian community, increasing ticket sales by 20%.
- Appointed Cultural Ambassador by the NZ Sailing Trust, Wayne significantly raised awareness of water and boating experiences in New Zealand by promoting the sailing story of Sir Peter Blake on his round the world winning maxi yacht Steinlager II. https://www.times.co.nz/news/new-kiwis-experience-sailing-for-the-first-time/
- Announced in November 2021 as one of the ten Service Award winners across New Zealand for the 2021 Yachting New Zealand Excellence Awards.
- Yachting NZ named Wayne as one of the winners of a Service Award in their 2021 Excellence Awards.
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