Paddling News

Aussie broadband firm Unwired took a punt in sponsoring two young Sydney kayakers hungry for adventure - and hit paydirt. Aussie broadband firm Unwired took a punt in sponsoring two young Sydney kayakers hungry for adventure - and hit paydirt.

"Sponsorship is a very risky thing," Unwired chief executive David Spence said in New Plymouth yesterday.

His company initially had fears it might have made a stupid move in agreeing to become James Castrission and Justin Jones' main sponsors for their ambitious but dangerous record-breaking attempt on the Tasman.

But it paid off on Sunday when the two steamed into a packed Ngamotu Beach after 62 days at sea.

Unwired, a fourth generation broadband company, has provided support to the men for two years as they prepared for their extraordinary journey.

That support included providing $100,000 for the purpose-built nine-metre kayak, Lot 41, they named after the legendary racehorse, Phar Lap.

"They are just great guys, real professional. They have done it properly every step of the way," Mr Spence said.

While the lads faced no problems with the Internet connections all the way over, the desalination plant's electronics broke down, forcing the paddlers to spend hours purifying salt water through their secondary manual plant.

"But besides that, and a couple of small things, the boat held together very well - due again to the professionalism of the two guys.

"They are very smart guys.

"We built the boat for them. And whatever we spend on them, we try to double the amount on marketing our brand."

Unwired is currently building a wimax network, a fourth generation broadband across Australia.

"It's all about mobile devices."

Unwired also worked with New Zealand company Daestra, based in Dunedin, on the website, crossingtheditch.com.au, which attracted a million hits.

"Daestra provided them with great technology, called TracPlus, which enabled everyone to feel connected to them by allowing them to track their position every few minutes.

"Great technology. It was a real joint effort," Mr Spence said.

The decision for Lot 41 to come into New Plymouth rather than any other North Island landing was "absolutely the right decision", he said.

"It's the safer harbour, the crowd was better. The mayor (New Plymouth Mayor Peter Tennent) has been amazingly supportive. He's a real enthusiast."

When the paddlers first spotted Mt Taranaki on the horizon on Friday it had been "blazing paddles", he said.

"They just pointed the canoe at the direction of the mountain and away they went."

Article Source: Taranaki Daily News