Former jet boat driver wins new boat in Coastguard lottery

Holly Deaker receives her new Haines Hunter boat from Coastguard Wānaka Lakes president Jonathan Walmisley.

FIRST PUBLISHED ON THE WANAKA APP

Local woman Holly Deaker is the proud owner of a brand new Haines Hunter boat valued at $70,000 after winning second prize in the Coastguard New Zealand Summer Lottery.

Holly was presented with the new boat yesterday (Thursday, March 28) after being informed of her win when Coastguard New Zealand phoned her in February. 

“I thought it was a scam at first,” Holly said.

“I’d almost forgotten that I’d bought the ticket and I fully didn’t remember what type of boat it was either.”

Holly said she purchased the ticket online and that it was the first time she had bought a ticket in the Coastguard lottery.

“It’s quite a cool way to be in to win something. Obviously you never expect anything out of it but still support them [Coastguard] as well,” she said.

This will be the first boat Holly has owned however she has plenty of experience on the water having been a commercial jet boat driver.

“I actually used to drive jetboats commercially, but this is obviously a bit different,” she said.

Coastguard Wānaka Lakes (CWL) president Jonathan Walmisley said he was delighted to present a major lottery prize to a Wānaka winner. 

“It’s fantastic to have a local winner because it proves you can win outside Auckland,” Jonathan said.

“For us, it is fantastic that local people support Coastguard.”

Jonathan said CWL sold 1,100 tickets locally, which were priced at $10 each, and that CWL receives $7 from every ticket sold.

“That is a significant part of our annual fundraising,” he said.

“For us, it is running costs, we reckon it is costing at the moment between $3,500 and $4,000 per month to run our unit; the boat the building, and everything.”

Jonathan said that despite the windy weather this summer CWL had one of its busiest years for non-urgent assists where boats had broken down.

“So people still need to be careful about making sure their boat is fit for purpose before they go out,” he said.

Holly said she is hoping to take her new boat out on the lake this Easter weekend.

“Hopefully there is some [summer] left, fingers crossed,” she said.