Chrysler Sailors Forum

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:40 am**

So, SWMBO and I are going on a cruise in April (work) and one of the shore excursions is an America's Cup Regatta thing. Which says:

Take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience, the thrill of racing aboard a multimillion-dollar America's Cup race boat. Two classic thoroughbreds nearly 70-feet long with masts the height of an eight-story building, duel in an equal match for a fractional advantage. They round the first mark and head off on the next leg. The race boats slice through the clear blue waters at speeds you have never sailed before. The skippers and crewmembers explain the strategy for winning the race, and you rise to the task! And, as if by miracle, a photo boat arrives to record for posterity the moment you raced a '12' to 'victory' in the St. Maarten 'America's Cup' 12-Meter Regatta. Note: Participants must be at least 7 years of age and possess sailing experience. Participants with no sailing experience must be at least 12 years of age and 21 years of age to be served alcoholic beverages. This tour is not recommended for guests with limited mobility.

Anybody ever done anything like that? It's $109 per person, and SWMBO said she'd go sailing if I took her to Atlantis.

What do you think?

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:20 am**

Sounds to me like fun!
I never done such a thing but hey, Why not!!

Scott

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:22 am**

Sounds like a win/win to me. I just came back from a Caribbean cruise (my first) to Cozumel,Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. We had a great time, but I would have given my eye teeth to be sailing out in those gorgeous waters for a bit in any one of those places. If SWMBO (I like it...had to look that one up in the urban slang dictionary) gave the green light, I would definitely say YA MAN to that! It would even top swimming (plus photo op, of course) with Flipper.

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:07 am**

Western Caribbean on NCL Epic. St Martin, ST Thomas and Nassau. All of the port have a "barefoot" sail, St Thomas has the big boat ride. It's my third cruise in the area, just looking for something to do. Most shore excursions are a rip off. There is only one review of it, said it's incredible glad he did it, not sure if he'd do it again for the money. Typical of most shore excisions.

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:18 am**

Sounds like $218 well spent to me!

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:14 pm**

It sounds like the best part of the trip. Good luck and if she aint happy nobody is happy.

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:14 pm**

I would say YES DEFINATELY!

Like the recent post on an America boat in Maui, we did that one also. Very much a fav part of the trip. Being able to help raise sail and get some scoop on the tactics on a boat like that is hard to come by for many of us. Be sure to post some picts also!!

And that price compared to any sailing in Hawaii sounds very reasonable by the way...

Posted: **Thu Feb 23, 2012 5:42 pm**

Yup, DO IT!

Okay I'm way late to this posting. I did the Maui America's Cup Race boat. Loved it.

I've Also been to Atlantis, Loved it too. So, DO IT too.

Thanks
Alan

Posted: **Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:53 pm**

Okay, been there. crewed on a a 12m cup boat, and yes have the T-shirt. I can not even begin to describe how cool that was, picked us up at the pier in St Thomas USVI, guy gave a 15 minute history of the cup races and the winged keel Aussies and how we took it back. They picked 3 team captains, and then chose 3 crews like sandlot ball (I got picked next to last) then we loaded up on shuttle boats to take us out to the boats. On the way out we were divided out by crew positions, from grinders to bartender and such. For the record my wife took iceberg watch because timekeeper, navigator and bartender were taken. We were delivered to the boats, met the skipper and 2 man crew who gave us a crash course in what we needed to do, we sailed around the beutiful blue water of St Thomas while we practiced trimming, tacking and such, then a marshal boat came out, gave us a count down and we did what they called a standard regatta course. Though our boat didn't win, it was increddible, and the blue water, sunny 80 degree day and 10 knot winds didn't hurt any.

More importantly SWMBO who had never been on a sailboat before had a blast and now is excited about us having a boat!

You really, really need to go do this. It was the best $200 I have ever spent. I'll post pictures in a day or so once we get unpacked.

We crewed Due North, the other two boats that day were Stars & Stripes, and Canada 2.

The website for the operator is:

http://www.12metre.com/