Upside Cup Yacht Race 2023: 5 Reasons Why You Should Get On Board

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In addition to being a unique sailing race, The Upside Cup is so much more. Proudly supported by Tax Management New Zealand (TMNZ), it's about being part of a team, about being outdoors and having fun, and most importantly, about supporting youth mentoring in Aotearoa.

Supporters of our 2022 event, raised over $29,000 for youth mentoring in Aotearoa. That's eight mentoring matches being supported for a year. The SROI of 470% is worth $138,500 worth of social good able to happen in Aotearoa.

The Upside Cup is open to teams of six competitors aged 18 and older. You don't need any sailing experience—you'll be assigned a skipper who will teach you the ropes (literally) during the race.

We think that 2023 is going to be another great year for the Upside Cup and we don’t think you’ll want to miss it.

5 reasons why you should get on board The Upside Cup 2023:

1. The Upside Cup Yacht Race, is an amazing team-building activity

Team building is essential in any business but it can be difficult to get everyone on the same page, especially if your company has a lot of remote employees. This is a chance for everyone to get out from behind their desks and come together for a common purpose: to support youth mentoring. Without the need for experience, those that know a bit about sailing can try more leadership roles, and those that don’t get to learn something completely new and experience something out of their comfort zone.

2022 Winners of the Upside Cup - Team 'Weirs the Shore?'

2. It’s an excellent chance to bond with your coworkers

If you’re like most, you spend most of your work day either in meetings, on your computer or customer facing. You might not get to see colleagues or senior leadership teams very often, which makes it even more important that you take time to connect with your coworkers of different departments when you can. We always make sure there will be plenty of opportunities throughout the event and during our post- racing event so you can get to know each other better socially.

3. Supporting a good cause is enjoyable and rewarding when racing in The Upside Cup

The purpose of this event is to raise money and awareness for youth mentoring across Aotearoa. Many companies have awesome work cultures and feel strongly about giving back, so supporting Upside is a great way to involve your whole team. After learning of the amazing results we've seen in some of our youth mentoring matches, many of our competitors feel drawn to become mentors themselves. That’s always a WIN WIN for us. And even if they don’t sign up themselves it brings awareness to our mahi (work) that they can share with friends.

And because of TMNZ's generous support, you know that every dollar raised will go to Upside matches and the young people needing a consistent adult relationship in thier young life.

Some of the amazing volunteer skippers

4. The Upside Cup Yacht Race is a fun event for everyone

Upside's goal is to make fundraising more fun, and the Upside Cup Yacht Race is a great example. We are so lucky to have some amazing skippers who volunteer because they know that the event is more about helping kids than winning. However, don't be fooled into believing that they won't do everything they can to lead your team first place.

5. It’s a way of giving but also getting back

Due to the fact that Upside Youth Mentoring is a registered charity, you can claim a tax deduction for the purchase of a yacht for your team. Furthermore, you will experience the thrill of a yacht race and, let's be honest, it is totally worth it knowing that you are helping a young person find a mentor. In comparison to some of the usual team gatherings, this is far more valuable.

First Foundation Crew

By taking part in the Upside Cup it doesn’t matter if you are a winner or a loser because Mentoring is an important tool that we can use to help build stronger communities where young people are valued, respected, supported and encouraged.

So by just taking part you are already winning the race to support youth mentoring and help our rangatahi (young people) to prepare for the future.

Sign up here today, but you’d better be quick…we don’t want you to miss the boat!

Tax Management New Zealand (TMNZ) is delivering on their purpose to be 100% invested in Aotearoa, as proud partners of the Upside Cup! Their commitment means, that every dollar raised will go to funding mentoring matches for young people in 2023.