BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Outteridge was born in Nouméa – while her Kiwi parents Ross and Jo Blackman were cruising the Pacific. The Blackmans had traded life ashore for a 32-foot cruising yacht in 1981 and set off with “no set plans but a vague hope of eventually reaching Hawaii.”

Ross was a sailmaker and an experienced sailor, but Jo had never even been on an overnight passage and learned sailing and navigation (pre-computers) as they went along. It’s the kind of can-do attitude you see reflected in Outteridge’s own approach to life.

The family eventually set up base in the Bay of Islands, with Ross working in marine sales. Life was simple enough until he got the call from his friend Tom Schnackenberg, to come and run the New Zealand Challenge sail