President 2025/26: Murray Gillespie
Secretary 2025/26: Jan Northrop
Club Website: http//www.rotaryngamotu.club
Apologies for dinner meetings by 12.00 Noon day of meeting
to Jan Northrop:email: jan.northrop@yahoo.com
President Murray opened the meeting by welcoming our two Guest Speakers Paul Feltoe and Len Houwers and also Taylor visiting friend Matt who she met through Rotary Youth Exchange.
After David’s Opening Thoughts and Grace, Simon introduced Paul Feltoe who manages to combine his role as MD of Safety Solutions, a company operating in three countries with his love and commitment to Ultra Marathon Swimming.
He started by giving more details about Marathon Swimming- distances must be more than 10 km -Ultra Marathon Swims typically range from 20-80 km and it is very much a solo sport , with the aid of a boat support team. Perhaps surprisingly it is an older people’s sport, all about swimming and recovery. “English Channel Rules” are in place , meaning no aids such as wetsuits or rest periods on the support boat.Paul trains on an almost professional level both in the water and on land.
Paul’s goal is to complete the Ocean’s Seven, a group of gruelling swims in seven venues across the globe, for example the Straits of Gibraltar , Cook Straits and English Channel. He has completed 5 so far. The logistics around each of swim are extremely demanding,with plans laid up to a couple of years in advance to fit around a swim window of some 5 days, determined initially by the tides. Often the swims take place at least partly at night.His longest night swim was 11 hours out of a total of 13 in Hawaii.
Des thanked Paul for such an interesting and informative talk, introducing us to a sport we had known nothing about and providing us with facts that would stay with us for a long time.
In view of our current position,Len Houwers had kindly agreed to talk to the Club about his own experiences of Mana Tangata as part of the Waitara Chapter. Membership appreciated his clear and concise description of the situation. He was very open in what he saw as the advantages and disadvantages of the set up as he has found it.
A lot of the formality has been removed, along with pressure on individual Clubs/Chapters to find officers. The three person Board oversees all admin for the Chapters but each Chapter is still in control of its own finances and its own Charitable Trust. Chapters meet how and when they choose, with each Chapter having two representatives who join in an online Board Meeting 2-3 times a year.
He answered questions from our Members and it was generally felt he had explained and clarified the organisation very well from a position of personal experience.
Len also gave a brief update on the Shelter Bag project which he is heading up nationally. A consignment of 1000 bags is on its way at a cost of c$104k including distribution etc. We have 90 bags earmarked for Taranaki with 60 required at the moment. Although Len has been disappointed with the lack of response from some Rotary Clubs and organisations, overall the project has proved successful and much appreciated at point of use.
Taylor then gave her parting thought, simply giving thanks for friendship and Matt’s presence in our group.
Our next meeting is on 11May and includes the SGM where we will vote on the motion to decide which option the Club will take on the way ahead. Please put it in your diaries now!
