Taking on the Ocean Ski World Series 2015

ABOUT ME:

My name is Samuel (Sam) Mayhew, and i am a 25 year old junior doctor currently working on average 60hr weeks at NZs only Childrens Hospital called Starship.

I am also currently completing a Diploma in Paediatrics at the Uuniversity of Auckland.

My personal passion is Ocean Ski Paddling, which developed after learning to paddle from Surf Lifesaving at Sprint Kayaking at my local clubs just over 2 years ago. You may ask how I fit in training for marathon Ocean Ski events? Well, you will find me hitting the pavement/gym or water often before 6am, and then late into the darkness at 8pm, its not the glamour hours, but I love it, I believe there is no shortcut to success, just hard work!

THE BIG DREAM:

My Long term goal is to become NZs best Ocean Ski paddler, and apart of that dream is to put NZ on the rankings for World Ocean Ski Racing, which in 2015, involves needing to complete a minimum 4 races of the series around the globe. I have never competed a series of races on the World Series, and this is the stage at which I need to test myself in order to one day become NZs top ocean ski paddler and get myself on the rankings to set the platform for the years to come.

The races I have chosen in this years series are as follows;

-Auckland, NZ champs March 2015

-Hood River, The Gorge, North American Champs July 23-26th

-San Francisco, USA Champs August 1st/2nd

-Tahiti, ICF World Champs October 2/3rd

-Perth, World Series Title Race, 'The Doctor' November

-Sydney, Australian Champs December

BUDGET:

In Order to compete in this series, I have to jump arguably the biggest hurdle, which is having the funds and support to get to the start line. This is why I am looking for all the support I can get to become a kiwi on the the World Series!!

Funding will go towards, accommodation, flights, car hire, race boat hire, race boat transport, fuel, food, event entry costs.

For example: The North American leg

-Return flights to San Francisco $2100NZD

-Domestic flights to Portland and back $300-400NZD

-Accommodation Hood River/Portland 1 week $700-1000NZD

-Accommodation San Francisco 1 week $700-1000NZD

-Car Rental 2 weeks $30-40 per day plus gas

-Racing Boat Rental 2 weeks $300USD

-Racing Boat Trailer spot/transport $150USD

-Event entries x2 (North American Champs and USA Champs) $300USD

-General expenses; food, petrol etc

In anticipation, I believe this segment alone is going to cost approx $7000-8000

For the Tahiti Leg approx $2000-3000

And Australian leg approx $2000-3000

Thus I have set a goal of raising $10,000 to minimise the cost burden as much as possible, to get to the World Series, represent myself, my family, friends, supporters/sponsors, and of course NZ to the best of my ability. The mathematicians out there will know that the cost is going to be well above $10,000 this season, most likely in the $15,000-$20,000 range. This is my first attempt at fundraising for a major goal in my life so i have no expectations of a particular fundraising goal, but have set a goal that would make the burden on my own bank account manageable, and thus set it at $10,000. If I did reach the goal target it will go towards the North American Races to allow more time for myself to save for the remaining races without being in debt.

Any donation, small or large is hugely appreciated, and puts me one step closer to the world series. By donating you will also receive updates on how my training and racing is going throughout the World Series!