NORTHERN LIGHTS #1: Jane Hindle, R. Tucker Thompson Sailing Trust

How close did Northland’s iconic R. Tucker Thompson come to being driven onto the financial rocks? How did those at the wheel steer the ship into calmer waters?

In this episode of the True North podcast we speak with Jane Hindle, a perpetual energy source for the R. Tucker Thompson Sailing Trust, based around the beloved and iconic tall ship in the Bay of Islands.

Jane helped establish the Trust along with original owner Russell Harris back in 2006, and served for many years as anExecutive Trustee. Now, 20 years later, and after a small break, she recently joined the Trust’s Board. 

We explore the ups and downs, ins and outs, and whys and hows of her journey with the Trust and the beautiful old vessel at the heart of it all, the R. Tucker Thompson herself.

This is the first of our ‘Northern Lights’ series of chats with unexpected Northlanders. For this first episode we’ve beena little untrue to our vision for this series. It’s meant to focus on some of the surprising people who, unexpectedly, live among us. People who have carved out successful careers for themselves – often internationally – and who now call Northland home for a variety of interesting reasons. They live among us, quietly and unrecognised, and we aim to tell at least some of their surprising or entertaining stories.

As one of our most high-profile business leaders, Jane doesn’t exactly fit this bill. But we hope you enjoy the chat anyway.

Links to items referred to in the show:

Northland Inc (Tai Tokerau Impact Fund)
https://www.northlandnz.com/business/get-business-support/te-tai-tokerau-impact-fund

Merlin Labs news release
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250522589351/en/Merlin-Secures-Experimental-Certificate-of-Airworthiness-in-New-Zealand-Accelerating-Certification-Flight-Testing