HERE TO SEE MOTHER

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29998, 6 December 1962, Page 13

HERE TO SEE MOTHER

Boxer Arrives In Yacht fNX Press Association) AUCKLAND,, December 4. On board the American ketch Sari Marais when she sailed into Auckland today, was 17-year-old Willie Arona, amateur welter-weight boxing champion of Rarotonga. He has come to New Zealand to see his sick mother and to seek experience on the amateur circuit here. The skipper of the 45ft yacht is Mr R. Hubert. The other crew members, who have been with him since he started a round-the-world cruise 15 months ago, are his 19-year-old daughter Linda and a Mexican parrot called Carlos. Mr Hubert caused a stir when he arrived. A Customs officer told him of the man who had threatened a traffic officer with a gun yesterday and who has still not been found. Mr Hubert later walked into the police station to register his .22 rifle and said: “I hear you’re looking for a man with a gun.” The police, he said, were “ready for anything.” They relaxed when he explained who he was. Mr Hubert and his daughter, both keen shell collectors, will stay in Auckland for three or four months. After the boat has been pverhauled they will continue their voyage.