Maritime Museum 2009/10 Speaker Series

The Maritime Museum’s 2009/10 Speaker Series is focusing on the environment, and we have two great speakers to get us started this year.

First up is Pete Bethune on Tuesday 13 October. Pete skippered the uber-cool boat, Earthrace, to its world-record circumnavigation of the globe in 2008. What’s more, Earthrace achieved this feat using 100% biofuel, proving that marine craft can travel as fast and efficiently across the oceans as anything using conventional fuels. Great reward for Pete, who started the Earthrace project to make a positive impact on the environment by increasing awareness of renewable fuels.

Pete will be speaking about the 60 day, 23,500 nautical mile voyage as well as updating attendees about his next plans for Earthrace ahead of his official media announcement on Friday 16 October. Attendees can also check out Earthrace prior to the talk, as it will be moored at the Maritime Museum.

Register your attendance on 09 373 0800 or info@maritimemuseum.co.nz – entry with $5 donation to charity of Pete’s choice.

Then on Tuesday 10 November, we’ll be welcoming Dr Mark Orams. Mark is a successful yachtsman, scientist, environmentalist and adventurer. He was part of Sir Peter Blake’s crew on the triumphant Steinlager 2 which won the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, and was a member of Team New Zealand’s two America’s Cup defences in Auckland.

Mark has recently published ‘Blake: Leader. Leadership lessons from a great New Zealander’, and hopes the book conveys something of the essence of the remarkable Sir Peter Blake. The book provides insights from Mark, and observations of Sir Peter’s leadership style from other crew mates and colleagues – including Grant Dalton and Douglas Myers – who worked closely with him before he was tragically killed in 2001.

The book was officially launched during the year’s New Zealand Leadership Week; an event started by the Sir Peter Blake Trust. Mark was the inaugural executive director of the Trust from 2004 to 2007. Mark is now a Professor of Tourism at AUT University and associate director of the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute.

Keep an eye out for registration details at a later date.

We’re currently planning presentations for the start of next year, along the same environmental theme. If you’ve got any ideas for people you'd like to see, let us know.