A co-founder of the Tauranga coastguard and sailing stalwart with grandchildren on the international sailing stage, has died in Tauranga.

Lloyd Mandeno Saunders was aged 87 years when he died in Tauranga hospital on Sunday.

Lloyd donating scrap metal for child cancer in July this year.

Lloyd and his wife Margaret have been members of the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club since they arrived from Taupo with their yacht Regardless in 1982/83.

'I was down at the berth and the first person I met was Colin Smith,” says Lloyd in an earlier story.

'He asked me if I was going to be around for a while. I said yes and he said I should join the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club, which was just being built at the marina, so I did and we have been perpetual members ever since,”

Lloyd, along with Brian Blackie, were the main instigators of the original Tauranga Coastguard, organising the construction of the building on Sulphur Point shared with Burnsco and the Charthouse restaurant. Lloyd was also one of the founders of the Sulphur Point marina.

It was his passion for boating and sailing that brought the family from Taupo to Tauranga, says son Peter. That, and the warmer climate.

'He was fortunate enough to have retired early which enabled them to do some races,” says Peter this week.

'They used to race over to Brisbane and up to the various islands like Tonga, Fiji and New Caledonia. On one trip he and some friends sailed as far north as the Solomon Islands. He's done it all.”

Lloyd started out as an agricultural contractor in the South Waikato/Taupo areas.

Peter adds: 'This is going way back when they were developing farmland around the western side of Lake Taupo and the back of Tokoroa where the government was balloting lots to returned servicemen.

'All the land was bush. My father bought some equipment and they broke in a lot of that land all around that area. From there his business just grew.

'He went on to own and operate a substantial road transport business and a farm machinery sales business in Taupo as well as having ownership interests in various farms.”

'It was just the timing. That Taupo/Tokoroa area was starting to grow as things developed in the area, and so they were in a position where they could supply the farmers with whatever they needed.

'At the same time him and mum raised five kids on a shoe string, as they did in those days.”

But even then he had a passion for sailing.

'When you live down Taupo you need to be doing something out on that lake,” says Peter.

Starting out with a trailer sailor, Lloyd and Margaret spent the winters racing around Taupo and the summers in the Coromandel and Tauranga.

Lloyd began sailing in his 40s, but with a yachtsman father it was simply a matter of time.

'Sailing is in the blood,” Lloyd once said. 'There's nothing more relaxing. You motor out of the entrance, turn the engine off - and the world just seems to stop.”

The Saunders family relocated to Tauranga bringing their 42ft Lidgard-designed keeler Regardless with them.

'At that time we were looking for another house anyway so decided to move here,” says Lloyd.

Regardless was a bit too big to transport easily, he says.

With the TYPBC Lloyd regularly raced around Slipper, Mayor and White Islands. Once he had established a crew it was time to go further afield - but the first race from Tauranga to Brisbane didn't go exactly as planned.

Travelling with a crew of eight past the Hen and Chicken Islands, Regardless and rest of the fleet in the race encountered a vicious storm with gale force northerlies creating large swells. Being new to ocean racing, Lloyd says the trip was definitely an education.

'We got into a bit of trouble. We started with eight people but had to pull in at the Bay of Islands to offload some very sick people. We continued on with four crew members, which was a bit nerve-wracking for our first ocean race.”

Despite a tough start Regardless made the trip to Brisbane and returned twice in the following three years.

It was also on Regardless that Lloyd sailed with the TYPBC cruising group to Tonga, New Caledonia and Vila.

He adds: 'Back then we didn't have GPS so you had to keep watching a compass to make sure you didn't go off track, which is pretty easy in the middle of the ocean!”

In 1996 Lloyd and Margaret sold Regardless and purchased Chantelle - a 48ft Salt House fibreglass hulled yacht.

Chantelle was traded for a launch, but the younger members of the family are still involved in the sailing arena.

'Everyone started wanting to go fishing, and sail boats aren't very practical for that. We also bought a motor home, which has caused a bit of competition between the water and wheels.”

The Saunders remained TYPBC members and are very proud of their grandsons Jason, who with Gemma Jones is currently campaigning the Nacra Class for the Rio Olympics in 2016, and Thomas, who is one of the world's top Laser sailors.

Lloyd is survived by his wife Margaret and was father and father-in-law of Janis and Barry, Fred and Judy, Elizabeth, Rob (deceased), Peter and Rosemary, the loving Poppa of Amy, Julia, Hamish, Mathew, Nick, Louise, Stephen, Bevan, Darren, Ben (deceased), Jason, Tom and Gen and the Great-Poppa of Brooke, Nikki, Jacob, Lily, Teddy, Zoe and Louie.