Nigel Cherrie

Nigel led a team of 3 other rowers "Team Gallagher" which successfully rowed across the Tasman Sea in 2011.

For team leader Nigel Cherrie, rowing into Auckland City on 20 January 2011 wasn't just the culmination of a two-month adventure on the Tasman Sea, it was the finish line of a five year journey to achieve a great life-changing goal. Nigel, with team-mates James Blake and Andrew McCowan, passed under the Auckland Harbour Bridge 55 days and two hours after leaving Australia- a 3,300km human-powered voyage. The team endured almost a month of torrid weather on the Tasman Sea, spending approximately 27 days at sea anchor as their 10.5m boat, The Moana, was tossed around by 4-6m seas and winds reaching 50 knots. But the perseverance required to cross the Tasman by oar power and eat cold food when they ran out of gas, was fuelled by five years of pursuing the dream, raising the sponsorship, building a team and overcoming every hurdle imaginable just to cross the Sydney Harbour start line.

Nigel organised sponsorship, marketing and logistics for the Team Gallagher Challenge. He speaks about leadership, planning, perseverence, overcoming adversity, risk management, performance and strategy. Nigel will be sharing the ups and downs of his experience, which will demonstrate that it takes a certain mental resilience to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Goal setting is only the first step. Learn about how you can stay focused and go beyond perceived limitations to attain your goals.

Here is somevother personal information about Nigel...

1.My role in the team was team leader
2.My nickname is Auntie
3.My favourite place in Auckland is Takapuna beach, great for a walk, a close by coffee, a swim in the summer or a windsurf.
4.If I wasn’t a project manager I’d be a journalist.
5.If I won $1,000,000 tomorrow I would buy a bigger boat and build my own house.
6.What you don’t know about me is I started traveling when I was 14 on my own. Had passport, will travel.
7.The most expensive purchase I’ve ever made is a road bike (and forgot to tell my wife).
8.If I could host a dinner part for 5 people (dead or alive) they would be Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Muhammad Ali, Grant Dalton and Ellen MacArthur.
9.My proudest moment was sailing across the Atlantic, aged 16.
10.My pets name is Slinky Malinki
11.My hidden talent is I can make a great coffee with our home coffee machine.
12.I’m really scared of not achieving my goals – fear is a wonderful motivator
13.My favourite band/performer is – hard one – Jay Z or Bon Jovi.
14.My family would describe me as driven.
15.The first record I ever purchased was Nic Kershaw.
16.My most fave business in Auckland is Toasted Espresso on the North Shore.
17.My favourite film is the Shawshank Redemption – it’s just so gripping.
18.My celebrity pass card would be Salma Hayek.
19.The most important thing my parents taught me is set yourself a goal, and go for it.
20.My phobia is snakes.
21.The person I most admire is Grant Dalton.
22.The thing that I find most annoying is people that don’t give 100%.
23.I can’t live without my phone (sorry, very sad, but it has my emails, diary and jobs lists in it).
24.My signature dance move is exceptionally bad.
25.The smallest town I have ever lived in is a village called Marden in the Kent (United Kingdom) countryside.