Coastguard Tautiaki Moana is marking 50 years since volunteer rescue groups agreed to operate as one coordinated service, a shift that turned local goodwill into a national network.

The federation was formed in 1976 by nine units: Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Tauranga, Whangarei, Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth and the Waiuku Search and Rescue Association. It followed decades of volunteer effort on local waters and fresh momentum after the Wahine disaster in 1968 exposed the need for better coordination.

Before the 1976 merger, crews were often entirely on their own when the weather turned or radios failed. Most relied on donated gear and volunteers’ private boats. “Funding was a big one. Ninety nine per cent of groups used volunteers’ boats – they weren’t anything like what we’ve got now,” said founding member Richard Udy from Waiuku.

Udy helped bring units into the new federation and remembers why the idea stuck. “Everyone was positive. Most of the units could see the benefits of uniting together and creating a stronger voice and stronger coordination. We knew if we could join together and use one common voice we could make a difference.”

Fifty years on, Coastguard says more than 2,000 volunteers across 62 units make up its network, responding to tens of thousands of incidents over the decades. “The standards of the skippers and crews are really high. Coastguard is a totally professional organisation now. I’m really proud of what was achieved,” Udy said.

The organisation plans to spend the year sharing stories from its early community roots in the late 1800s through to today, highlighting how local crews, training and shared standards built a service that remains volunteer-led: ordinary people stepping up when something goes wrong on the water.