Sue Tucker is the 2022 NZ Boat Show Hall of Fame recipient.
Sue has been involved in the marine industry for over 50 years. In that time, she has been a huge help to several marine businesses, associated organisations and the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show.
She has also almost certainly done more than anyone else to promote safe boating in this country.
Sue started her career in the industry in 1978 as the secretary/manager at Yachtspars where she and her team countered the crippling boat tax of the time by seeking, and securing, new offshore markets, winning the company an Export Award in the process.
After a spell working with Ministry of Internal Affairs, as the spouse liaison officer for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, Sue found her passion in water safety. Initially co-ordinating parent training for the Waterwise programme, she ensured there were enough instructors to deliver the program to 500 students annually. She also taught and coordinated teachers and students in the Waterwise program and ensured there were sufficient ethnic parents to translate and assist in the programme’s rescue boats.
As the National Marketing Representative for the Coastguard Boating Education Service in the early 2000s, Sue set up and launched two important youth programs: Safe Boating and Day Skipper in schools. These enabled around 7000 students to receive a thorough safe boating education. She also supported CBES representatives and tutors throughout the country and enthusiastically worked with members of the industry and sponsors to further promote water safety. During this time Sue also enhanced the liaison between CBES and the Coastguard Search and Rescue Units, helped provide and promote Day Skipper training within Maori communities and organised local and national radio and TV campaigns promoting water safety.
As a North Island Recreational Boating Adviser, she co-ordinated and delivered recreational safety campaigns, ensuring boaties and fishers could access the knowledge and advice they needed to enjoy safe boating. She performed a similar role for Environment Waikato. And then, with Coastguard Boating Education again, helped grow the numbers of those participating in their programmes, was instrumental in introducing the newly-developed online booking process and promoted water safety at key events such as the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show.
Sue has also helped co-ordinate a number of fun events for various Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Shows, ensuring that the important safety messages were always delivered in a light-hearted, entertaining and very effective way.
For the last eight years or so, as a Coastguard community ambassador, Sue has delivered the Coastguard’s popular Old4New Lifejacket Update campaign around the country.
While these are just a few of Sue’s achievements, there is no doubt that she has made a truly enormous contribution to water safety in New Zealand and is, therefore, a very worthy inductee into the New Zealand Boat Show Hall of Fame.
