81 -year-old sailor

looks for more challenges

By Florence Syme-Buchanan

IF the South Pacific was to acknowledge the achieve ments of its leading modern day sons and daughters in cel ebration of the new Millennium, Cook Islander Sir Thomas Davis would be

amongst those who have become legends in their own time.

Scientist, traditional

navigator, yachtsman,

musician, author and

philosopher, Sir

Thomas, a former politician and Rarotonga chieftain, is still achieving the remarkable at the age of 81.

In December, the fit and active octogenarian accepted an invitation to sail onboard the “Nokia” in the interna tional Sydney to Hobart blue water race - one of the toughest in the world.

And when news

began filtering through

of treacherous weather

and subsequent

tragedies, friends and

family prayed for Sir Thomas. “For me to keep from injury, to keep from becoming a burden took all my concentration, all my past experience concentrated in three and a half days - the boat could’ve killed me at any time,” says the man who has spent over half a century sailing oceans of the world.

“When you’re 81, you’re 81 and yes I was exhausted after the race, but no more than anyone else”.

Captained by professional yachtsman, David Whit, the “Nokia” came in fifth out of the original 115 yachts that started.

Seventy-five pulled out after experiencing difficulties. The “Nokia” sailed with the

Cooks international number of CK I and under the Rarotonga Sailing Club burgee.

“We should have come third, but the captain injured his arm and had to rest up, during that period we were not going any where, we had problems going windward under storm sail and were going very slow compared to the two yachts behind us, but

that’s what racing is about,” says Sir Thomas.

Sir Thomas can now notch up the Sydney to Hobart as another amazing achievement. If funding can be found, the adventures aren’t going to end there.

He is now planning to take the Te Au O Tonga, the 72 foot doubled hulled voyag ing canoe to the America’s Cup in Auckland this year. Sir Thomas says he wants the traditional ocean voyaging canoe “to be represented and part of the maritime scene”.

Then it’s taking the canoe to the open ing of Sydney 2000. After that, an epic voyage to Easter Island or Rapa Nui, com pleting Te Au O Tonga’s journeys through out Polynesia and replicating what seafar ing ancestors did.

This last voyage, says Sir Thomas, would be the more important for the canoe to complete than being present at the America’s Cup or Sydney 2000.

Financing the voyages remains a prob

lem.

“There are people interested. I’ve had some communica tions with some peo ple who are trying to do something,” he says. And this old sailor isn’t going to be nervous about lob bying the Cook Islands commercial sector to help make the voyages a reality during his lifetime.

Meanwhile, home is the sailor, home from the sea.

And while Sir Thomas is home, he thunders through the sleepy villages in Rarotonga on his Harley Davidson 1200 cc sportster, one of two on the island.

He shipped it over

from Hawaii onboard the Te Au O Tonga.

On that 1995 voyage from Rarotonga, French Polynesia, Hawaii and back, Sir Thomas navigated the entire journey using traditional methods.

Sir Thomas’ tenacity is legendary in the Cooks - so the Americas Cup, Sydney 2000 and Rapa Nui aren’t impossible. ■

Sir Thomas Davis at the helm of Te Au 0 Tonga during a voyage to Samoa in 1996