Te Hau Wawara initiative launches to reconnect rangatahi with Pacific voyaging heritage

A significant new kaupapa aimed at reconnecting Māori and Pacific youth with their ancestral voyaging roots has launched in Tāmaki Makaurau. The initiative, named Te Hau Wawara, held its inaugural waka sailing experience at Ōkahu Bay on Saturday, 17 October 2026. The event brought together 60 rangatahi and their whānau to experience traditional waka sailing alongside modern sailing expertise. The programme is a collaborative effort between Blair Tuke, Co-CEO of the Black Foils and co-founder of Live Ocean, and master navigator Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, the founder of Te Toki Voyaging Trust. According to Waatea News, the initiative combines the high-performance knowledge of New Zealand’s SailGP team with generations of traditional Māori and Pacific navigation mātauranga. To facilitate the project, Tuke and the Black Foils team spent recent months restoring three Ulua, which are small, two-person sailing waka designed for stability and accessibility. During the Ōkahu Bay event, rangatahi from various iwi groups had the opportunity to learn directly from seasoned sailors. In addition to the smaller Ulua waka, the traditional ocean-going voyaging waka Haunui was anchored in the bay for whānau to explore. Onshore activities complemented the time on the water, featuring virtual reality ocean experiences and lessons on traditional navigation and marine conservation. Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr noted that while waka ama is popular, participation in sailing among Māori communities has remained limited. The long-term vision for Te Hau Wawara is to establish fleets of small sailing waka in communities across Aotearoa, mirroring the community-led success of Waka Ama Aotearoa. By creating these pathways, organisers hope to foster a new generation of sailors who are deeply connected to the maritime traditions of their tūpuna and committed to protecting the health of the moana.