America’s Cup trophy gets main st carnival parade
ABOUT 400 people took part in Oamaru’s America’s Cup Carnival yesterday.
The cup was transported by horse and cart down the town’s main street, escorted by pennyfarthings and their riders, before being whisked on to the tourist train run by Oamaru Steam and Rail to be taken to a crowd waiting at the North Otago Yacht and Power Boat Club.
The Oamaru festivities, which ran from 1pm to 7pm, mark the start of Team New Zealand’s tour of Otago and Southland, part of a national tour of smaller centres.
The cup was expected to be in Wanaka and Queenstown today and in Invercargill tomorrow.
Club commodore Kevin Murdoch was pleased with how Oamaru people supported the event.
‘‘It couldn’t have been better.’’ He and his daughters had created a promotional video of Oamaru and sent it to Team New Zealand as an invitation to bring the cup to Oamaru before they knew anything like a nationwide tour was planned.
Sailing clubs in the North Island had people mow ‘‘Team NZ’’ into their lawns, but Oamaru decided to go a step further and create a video with shots of Oamaru’s harbour to entice Team New Zealand.
Team New Zealand On Water Operations manager Chris ‘‘Curly’’ Salthouse said the tour was to thank people who supported his team..
Team NZ platform coordinator Richard Meacham said it was a privilege to bring the cup to Otago.
He hoped people who saw the cup and spoke to the cup’s tour team would come away feeling empowered with the belief that it was worthwhile following their dreams.