Aotearoa, 20 October 2024 – Coastguard Tautiaki Moana is thrilled to announce the winners of our 2024 Awards of Excellence. These awards celebrate the passion, commitment, and outstanding efforts of our volunteers, whose contributions over the past year have been instrumental in saving lives and supporting communities. Every day, our volunteers pour their time, energy, and passion into their mahi, going above and beyond to keep people safe on the water.
Coastguard only exists because of our highly trained and skilled volunteers. Over the past 12 months, more than 2,000 volunteers generously gave 303,048 hours to lifesaving efforts. They responded to 2,867 incidents, bringing 7,196 people to safety and saving 48 lives.
Coastguard extends heartfelt congratulations to all the winners, finalists, and nominees for this year’s Awards of Excellence.
Here’s our 2024 winners!
Supreme Award Volunteer of the Year & Outstanding Leadership Award: Jeff Cramp, Coastguard Hokianga
Outstanding Leadership Award Finalists: Arne Pallentin (Coastguard Wellington), John Quinn (Coastguard Queenstown) and Wayne Williams (Coastguard Bluff).
The only reason Hokianga has a Coastguard unit is because Jeff Cramp started it, from scratch. That was 1995 and since then he has made a huge difference to his small Hokianga community, not least of which is saving a few lives – sometimes people he knows well. Once a month he also heads up to the local hospital to speak with trainee doctors and nurses about treating people in real-life medical emergencies. Being recognised for his work matters too. Hokianga is a small unit in a faraway part of the world, so he is pleased to have been nominated because it puts his unit and its close-knit team of hardworking volunteers on the map. They all deserve the credit he reckons.
Read more about Jeff: Supreme Award
Air Patrol Volunteer of the Year: John McDowell, Auckland Coastguard Air Patrol
Finalists: Robert Brown (Auckland Coastguard Air Patrol) and Daniel Soudlenkov (Auckland Coastguard Air Patrol).
Over the past several years, John McDowell has played a crucial role in supporting Coastguard Auckland Air Patrol's operational capability. He has held the position of Unit Training Coordinator for a number of years and through his time, has successfully driven several key initiatives.
Read more about John: Air Patrol Volunteer of the Year
Community Engagement Unit of the Year: Coastguard Marlborough
Finalists: Coastguard North Kaipara and Coastguard Ōpōtiki.
Coastguard Marlborough’s well-deserved win highlights their impactful initiatives over the past year, particularly their successful expansion trial into Pelorus Sound. This enabled boaties in Pelorus Sound to call Coastguard for non-urgent assistance, saving a four-hour round trip from Picton.
Read more about Coastguard Marlborough: Community Engagement Unit of the Year
Communications or Incident Management Volunteer of the Year: Ian Gabites, Coastguard Taranaki
Finalists: Jill Robertson (Communications East and Maurice Carter (Coastguard Marlborough).
Ian Gabites is an active volunteer for Taranaki, a Radio Operator and one of the Duty Officers for the unit. Just quietly, that’s a contribution of over 500 hours a year to the unit in these various roles. Ian has completed CIMS4, Marine SAR Technical, Manage the Marine Response, SAR Manager and Communications Instructor. He is a key trainer for new volunteer radio operators coming into the unit and keeps everyone else in the region on their A-game.
Read more about Ian: Communications or Incident Management Volunteer of the Year
Emerging Young Volunteer of the Year: Jessica Cameron, Coastguard Marlborough
Finalists: Leah Sinton (Coastguard North Shore) and Geoffrey Bunn (Coastguard Taranaki).
Jessica Cameron joined Coastguard Marlborough at just 17. Since then, she has consistently demonstrated key Coastguard values of teamwork, integrity and excellence, navigated high-pressure situations with poise, and fostered a “let’s get stuff done” attitude within the team.
Read more about Jessica: Emerging Young Volunteer of the Year
Rescue of the Year (Sponsored by Advanced Optics): Coastguard South Taranaki
Finalists: Coastguard Wellington, Coastguard Hawke’s Bay and Coastguard Dunedin.
On March 10, off the South Taranaki coast, a 7-metre aluminium boat reported a diver missing. Coastguard South Taranaki Skipper Scott Williams arrived at Patea boat ramp as the team assembled, then made their way at speed towards the site, approximately 5 nautical miles offshore from the Patea bar. For the next 5 days and approximately 900 hours, with bad weather hampering their rescue efforts, the crew remained focussed on the search and hopeful rescue of the diver.
Read more about Coastguard South Taranaki: Rescue of the Year
Rescue Vessel Volunteer of the Year: Graham Weakley, Coastguard Wellington
Finalists: Edward (ed) Bezett (Coastguard Marlborough) and Andrew (Andy) Thornton (Coastguard North Canterbury).
Graham Weakley is an immensely positive figure around Coastguard Wellington, respected as a ‘font of all knowledge’ and a ‘legend’. He continually strives to improve the unit - its processes, equipment, and people, especially training other volunteers. He created the Qualified and Senior Crew training cohorts to uplift the unit’s skill and experience level, managing and running multiple weekly trainings (2-3 per week, and 1-2 additional weekend trainings). He goes above and beyond what is expected of a volunteer, using his 20+ years of boating and Coastguard experience, as well as his skills as a former commercial skipper to raise the bar.
Read more about Graham: Rescue Vessel Volunteer of the Year
Unit of the Year (Sponsored by Hutchwilco): Coastguard Queenstown
Finalists: Coastguard Marlborough and Coastguard Kaipara.
Coastguard Queenstown has had an extremely busy and productive year. Notable achievements included recruiting more volunteers and training them with the latest maritime safety protocols and techniques – leading to more engaged and better prepared volunteers, with quicker response times and more effective rescue operations. The unit has also invested in fit-for purpose-equipment, significantly improving their capability to perform in challenging conditions, as well as successfully negotiated increased funding from a major sponsor.
Read more about Coastguard Queenstown: Unit of the Year
Unit Support Volunteer of the Year (Sponsored by Century): Lisa Delaveau, Coastguard Marlborough
Finalists: Linda Pattinson (Coastguard Hokianga) and Michael Langford (Coastguard Taranaki).
In her role as Unit Secretary, Lisa is a model of efficiency and dedication. She manages meeting minutes, correspondence, and administrative duties – all the stuff that needs to be done - ensuring the smooth operation of the unit. She also has a knack for swiftly disseminating information post-meetings, so everyone knows what’s what. This includes producing a monthly newsletter ‘Crew News’ which has been instrumental in maintaining high spirits and a sense of unity.
Read more about Lisa: Unit Support Volunteer of the Year
ENDS
Want to speak with one of our inspiring winners or feature their stories? For interviews and high-resolution images, contact us at [email protected]
