As a young boy in the ‘60’s Keith Andrews asked his parents for a sailing dinghy for Christmas. But with five children his parents had no extra money, and Christmas came and went dinghy-less. From then on Keith knew if he wanted anything he’d have to work for it, so he got a part-time job.

His first boat was an OK dinghy, which he kept at the local Onerahi Yacht Club. Every Sunday he loaded the sails and gear onto his bike and rode to the club for racing. In his teens the motor mechanic partnered up with fellow sailmaker yachtie Jack Lloyd to build and race the 24ft Bruce Farr design Strait Laced. A few years later they built Lovelace – a Bruce Farr One-Ton racing yacht.

The determined young men qualified to race for New Zealand in the 1978 Pan Am Clipper Cup series held in Hawaii and raised enough money to ship the boat and compete in the series over six weeks. Lovelace was sold shortly afterwards to an American who renamed her Whangarei.

On his return Keith’s focus shifted to family and a home, although he was never far from the sea. He loved sailing catamarans, crewing on friends’ boats, and fishing or wakeboarding on his fizz boat with his three children.

Keith began his last home last year but it remained uncompleted when he succumbed to cancer, aged 66. He leaves behind his wife of 42 years Vicki and water-loving children Kurtis, Camden, and Holly, their partners, and five grand-children.