Champions in their field - The Western Bay Museum
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Announcing our next exhibition -'Champions in their field' celebrating local sports legends from the Western Bay of Plenty.
Running from September to January, this exciting exhibition will feature exhibits from some of our local legends including Denny Hulme, Katikati Rugby Club and Waihi Surf Lifesaving.
Denny HulmeOBE (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992), among many other achievements, won the 1967Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his final race in the 1974 US Grand Prix, he started 112 Grand Prix, resulting eight victories and 33 trips to the podium. He also finished third in the overall standing in 1968 and 1972.
Following his Formula One tenure with Brabham, Hulme raced for McLaren in multiple formats—Formula One, Can-Am, and at the Indianapolis 500. Hulme retired from Formula One at the end of the 1974 season but continued to race Australian Touring Cars.
Nicknamed 'The Bear', during his career, Hulme drove the most powerful cars of his era. He raced in F1, F2, Indycars, saloon/touring cars, CanAm and endurance races, all during the same season. After retiring from F1, he even drove in truck races.
KatiKati Rugby Club was established in 1880 and is a founder club in both the Bay of Plenty and Thames Valley Rugby Unions. is the only club to still wear the colours of both the Bay of Plenty and Thames Valley unions on their rugby shirts
The first All Black captain (in 1905), Dave Gallaher played rugby in Katikati as a child and past Katikati Rugby Club player Graeme Moore is the highest try-scoring player in Bay of Plenty rugby union history
The Katikati Senior Men’s second game, against Tauranga Rugby Club at Tauranga Domain on July 31, 1880, was the first interclub game recorded in the Bay of Plenty.
Waihi Surf Lifesaving Club is situated at the northern end of Waihi Beach. The original Waihi Beach Surf Life Saving Club was founded in 1935 and the club was run by a small group of locals trying to make the beach a safer place for their families and friends.
Despite the wars and times of economic hardship, the service has continually operated throughout the last 8 decades.