Luke was brought up on his family’s vineyard in rural North Auckland, New Zealand. He didn’t sail as a youngster, but after completing degrees in English Literature and Philosophy he started travelling and ‘fell’ into yachting in the early 2000’s. Over the years Luke has worked on several prestigious sailing yachts such as the schooner S/Y AMERICA, S/Y MIRABELLA V and S/Y ATHENA. Luke first stepped aboard S/Y TWIZZLE as a First Officer during Twizzle’s build in 2010, and he remained crew for the next 7 years as S/Y TWIZZLE sailed all over the world. In 2017 Luke departed S/Y TWIZZLE for a position as Junior Captain on S/Y AQUIJO, the 86m Vitters ketch, a move that brought with it valuable experience including completing another circumnavigation and sailing around Cape Horn. In late 2020 Luke returned to S/Y TWIZZLE as Captain, picking up where it all started in the yard and overseeing her 10-year survey and a significant refit. When not onboard, Luke enjoys working amongst the grapevines and lives in a small ‘off the grid’ cabin that he built for himself on the family vineyard in New Zealand.
