Liv living her best life in Barcelona
In the final part of our series on the Team NZ women making sailing history, helmswoman Liv Mackay reveals why she never thought she’d be part of an America’s Cup, and how she’s braving the waves in Barcelona
Liv Mackay’s first connection to the America’s Cup goes back to New Zealand’s original hunt for sailing’s holy grail – a decade before she was even a twinkle in her father’s eye.
Her father, Hugo, was in fact a shearer – a Kiwi working in western Australia – who went to watch KZ7 race in the challenger series for the America’s Cup in Perth in 1987.
“I’m not from a sailing family. But my earliest memory of the Cup was as a kid hearing my dad talking about being in Fremantle,” Mackay, now 26, says. “I think he knew what was going on.”
It was her farmer dad who took nine-year-old Mackay and her brother to the Napier Sailing Club for a bit of a fun family activity. But Mackay soon became determined to learn the ropes and get serious about yachting.
Now her dad – and mum – are on their way to Barcelona to watch their daughter co-helm the New Zealand boat in the very first Women’s America’s Cup, starting in three weeks’ time.
It wasn’t until 2013 – when Mackay was at boarder at Havelock North girls’ school, Woodford House – that she discovered the America’s Cup for herself.
“Every morning, we’d put the racing on and I’d make my whole class watch it,” she recalls. “I remember our whole school – there was only 300 of us – watching the final races together.
“It’s pretty special seeing how the country gets behind this sporting event and how significant it really is. I remember thinking it was similar to watching the Olympics, and at that point, I was really curious about the Games and quite driven to get there. Then watching the Cup really intrigued me.”
