America's Cup Regatta

[Wayfairers]

Are you expected to help sail on the America's Cup Regatta or can you just be along for the ride? I know the brochure says you can just sit back and enjoy, but I'm wondering if, in reality, you are pushed to help sail.

[gtaylor]

My job was assistant bartender -- collect the empties.

 

gary

[Wayfairers]

Assistant bartender sounds like a good job :)

 

How was the excursion... was it worth the $$$?

[aikensbest]

My wife and I enjoyed this more than any tour or other activity that we have taken. You pick your "job" on the ship. My wife was a timekeeper and I had a great time actually working with the sails. We definitely think it is worth the money. We will be going back in March and doing this for the 3rd time. By the way we are not kids. Wife 70 and me 78.

[luvscruising2007]

My wife and I enjoyed this more than any tour or other activity that we have taken. You pick your "job" on the ship. My wife was a timekeeper and I had a great time actually working with the sails. We definitely think it is worth the money. We will be going back in March and doing this for the 3rd time. By the way we are not kids. Wife 70 and me 78.

 

I have been trying to read all the posts about this excursion. I think it would be great fun but I was concerned about the exertion required, DH will be 80 and I will be 65. He broke his hip a few years ago and I have been concerned about his mobility on the sail boat.

If you can truly sit back and relax, I think we would both enjoy it.

[gtaylor]

There are a number of very active (sometimes) positions, like all the grinders, but there are certainly a number of less active positions, as well.

 

I'd say go for it. I would do it again and also recommend it to my mother, if that helps at all.

 

For the 'sometimes' parenthetical above, listen to

about our excursion.

 

gary

[Fblack]

We did it in January. I am 60 and have a bad knee. While they say you don't have to work, the Captain really presses people to help. They only have 3 real crew members. Some jobs like time keeper and bartender are easy. Other jobs like grinders are harder. For me I wanted to do NOTHING and he tried to embarrass me into working. I said no very strongly and then just enjoyed the race doing nothing but hanging on. Plan to wear a hat with a chin tie or stow your hat. Sunglasses too are easy to lose.

 

While the race was fun, our Captain, named Morgan, was too worried about winning and letting his passengers/crew have fun. He barked orders, glared at slow to react passengers, and generally ruined a nice day for a few passengers. Apparently he had lost the last 20 races against the True North team and took the race too seriously. We lost too.

 

Bottom line, it was fun; but be prepared to be enlisted to work or hold your ground...which will be hard.

[Wayfairers]

Thanks for the information everyone.

 

@Fblack - do you get to choose which Captain you sail with or is it chosen for you? Glad to hear you still had a good time even though it sounds as if the Captain needs to understand everyone is there only to have a good time. That is exactly what we were worried about... some people only want to win and we just aren't that competitive. We just love to sail.

[crewsweeper]

They "pick" a crew chief, someone to pick others for each boat. Sorta like picking dodgeball teams at the playground. Then they tell you which boat yuou are on. The boats are moored in the harbor. You won't meet the captains until you board. You will NOT be sailing with Dennis Connor (not that'd you ever want to anyway:rolleyes:).

 

luvscruising2007...there's really no place to "sit a back and relax". You sit on the gunwales. You may have to move from one side to the other to help heel the boat of no wind, or level it out if too much wind. The boat will be heeled, that is tipped down away from the windward side, to reduce the amount of boat drag through the water. These are racing yachts, clear decks no structres, and a smallest cockpit for the crew to work.

 

Bearing that in mind, people on crutches and in casts have done this excursion. But I think you need to make that decision based on your personal knowledge of you and your DH's state of health.

 

Perhaps a day sail charter or a catermaran charter would be a bit more "sit and relax" and easier manueverability for you.

[johneeo]

Are you expected to help sail on the America's Cup Regatta or can you just be along for the ride? I know the brochure says you can just sit back and enjoy, but I'm wondering if, in reality, you are pushed to help sail.

 

First, of all the excursions I have ever done, this was by far the best by a long shot. Absolutely loved it.

 

I also had Captain Morgan, and yes, he wants to win, and I found that part of it fun. Our boat was True North, and we beat Stars N Stripes.

 

You can do absolutely nothing, or take a less strenuous job like timekeeper or barmaid.

 

It was great. I highly recommend it.

 

Here is a picture of the race:

 

[Wayfairers]

I am active (my favorite excursion was glacier climbing in Alaska and I always enjoy snorkeling or hiking) but I don't know how to sail and I'm not really interested in learning. It sounds like I would be ok on this excursion - I could be a bartender if nothing else :) I appreciate seeing the picture johneeo!

[johneeo]

I am active (my favorite excursion was glacier climbing in Alaska and I always enjoy snorkeling or hiking) but I don't know how to sail and I'm not really interested in learning. It sounds like I would be ok on this excursion - I could be a bartender if nothing else :) I appreciate seeing the picture johneeo!

 

Trust me, you do not learn to sail. The crew does the sailing work, whereas the participants turn the cranks, let the rope out as told.

 

It is all a pretty cool experience. If you want an easy job, I was the main sail trimmer. You just sit next to the captain, and he tells you how much rope to let out, or he tells you how much to bring in. Pretty easy, but I have to admit, my beer drinking kind of interfered with the job.:eek:

[terrirus]

This sounds like a great day, is this something that is booked through the ship or privately? We will be going in Jan 2012.

[johneeo]

This sounds like a great day, is this something that is booked through the ship or privately? We will be going in Jan 2012.

 

I am sure you have to book it through RCI.

 

I tried to book a Segway excursion privately, got an email back that they were only taking reservations from RCI when the Explorer was in port.

[terrirus]

I am sure you have to book it through RCI.

 

I tried to book a Segway excursion privately, got an email back that they were only taking reservations from RCI when the Explorer was in port.

 

Thanks, I will look into the RCI excursions.

[Wayfairers]

just booked it though HAL!

[gtaylor]

I am sure you have to book it through RCI.

 

I tried to book a Segway excursion privately, got an email back that they were only taking reservations from RCI when the Explorer was in port.

Could you share the e-mail address that you used?

 

gary

[johneeo]

Could you share the e-mail address that you used?

 

gary

 

http://www.segwaytourspr.com/

[gtaylor]

But that's in Puerto Rico.

 

gary

[johneeo]

But that's in Puerto Rico.

 

gary

 

OOOPS!:eek:

 

My mistake. I was thinking about my experience in booking the Segway excursion in PR.

 

For the AC I just booked it thru the cruise line.

 

Did a google search, check this out.

[gtaylor]

OK, it's a bit off topic for the America's Cup discussion, but if you want to try to book the Boardwalk Segway Tour outside your cruiseline, e-mail Shernia Duinkerk, s.duinkerk@hotmail.com to see if they have availability.

 

gary

[Wayfairers]

going along with the off topic discussion.... I have never done a Segway tour in St Martin or Puerto Rico, but I have done one on Sausalito, CA and it was wonderful.. riding segways is sooo much easier than you would think...

[gtaylor]

For the record, I only went off topic with my Segway posts because it was posted earlier that you had to book through the cruise line and I had information that it wasn't certainly so on St. Maarten.

 

gary

[Yenrab22]

We did it in January. I am 60 and have a bad knee. While they say you don't have to work, the Captain really presses people to help. They only have 3 real crew members. Some jobs like time keeper and bartender are easy. Other jobs like grinders are harder. For me I wanted to do NOTHING and he tried to embarrass me into working. I said no very strongly and then just enjoyed the race doing nothing but hanging on. Plan to wear a hat with a chin tie or stow your hat. Sunglasses too are easy to lose.

 

While the race was fun, our Captain, named Morgan, was too worried about winning and letting his passengers/crew have fun. He barked orders, glared at slow to react passengers, and generally ruined a nice day for a few passengers. Apparently he had lost the last 20 races against the True North team and took the race too seriously. We lost too.

 

Bottom line, it was fun; but be prepared to be enlisted to work or hold your ground...which will be hard.

 

This is a great experience if you're interested in sailing and racing. We got to race the actual Stars and Stripes, which was a thrill, since I remember it from the news in the 1980s (feels like driving Dale Earnhardt's NASCAR or something). It's not a leisurely sail on the ocean though.

There are a FEW non-physical jobs onboard. You have like 12 people, and 8 have to do some strenuous (at times) work. A few people will get to take it easy, but all those physical jobs have to be filled. We had a few people in their 60s had to work as grinders. So, the idea that you can choose to sit back and be a passenger is not really true.

I agree with your comment on Morgan - this was not one of those "everybody make mistakes and let's laugh about it" experiences. It was more like "unless you get this right, we can't sail." The other two assistants were a lot of fun, though, and broke the tension.

My only real complaint was with the photographer. We spent a lot of time posing for their photographer trailing us on a speedboat to get the "official" picture. I would have gladly paid the $30 for a shot of us on the Stars and Stripes, but the guy got like three of the 12 people in the picture. You would like to have some proof of a once in a lifetime experience like this.

[VideoTech]

Did the America's Cup off the NCL Sun this past January, and loved it. BTW, I'm in my late 50's, active and in fairly good shape, but not a gym rat by any means.

 

I should preface this by saying that I've sailed all my life, and followed the America's cup religiously. It's my NASCAR. The boats that are sailed here are the ones I've watched and followed, and to me they represent the best of America's cup racing (as opposed to what's going on now - but that's a different subject). I've always longed to get a chance to sail on one, so for me, this was a great opportunity.

 

Your group will have all kinds and all ages of people in it. Everyone is assembled at pier side, and at some point they divide you up into crews for the different boats. They try to keep parties and groups together on the same boats, and also to have enough different ages and skills for each boat. They ask about sailing experience, but it's not required at all.

 

On the tender out to the sailboats, the captain will explain the various duties and positions, and assign people to them. Some of the positions (like bartender or mainsail trimmer) require almost no work. Some of them, like "grinders" (the guys who provide the manpower to run the winches that control the sails) require some bursts of fairly strenuous activity, with spaces in between to rest up.

 

I ended up on one of the jib sheet grinders, which are the hardest working positions on the boat. There are four people running the jib sheet grinders, and two people running the main sheet grinders. There are 3 AC Staff crew members, one of whom Captains and steers. The other two each work one side of the boat, handling the ropes on the jib sheet winches and calling out orders to the grinders.

 

BTW, it's worth noting that these AC staff crew members are often younger professional sailors on the racing circuit, working their way up through the ranks. They know their stuff.

 

Once out at the boats (if you're not on the first sailing of the day), there's a little dancing around while the first crew gets off and onto the tender, and your crew gets on. Everyone gets put in their assigned places, and there's a safety lecture, because there are definitely some things on these boats that can hurt you if you put your hand down in the wrong place at the wrong moment.

 

Then the grinders all get some practice to learn how to work the winches. You have to grind in two different directions as the gears are changed on the winches.

 

After everyone's settled into their jobs, the fun begins. Sails are hoisted (in my case we were the first sail of the day, so we had to help with the hoisting too), and you head out for a standard timed racing start, with all three boats approaching the starting line at once, jockeying for the best position.

 

Once the race starts, it's definitely a race, and as others have noted, there's a fair amount of pressure on to win. I didn't feel that it was over the top, and for me, it definitely enhanced the experience. It wasn't just a "get out and sail around a bit" type thing. Although you're not using the most powerful sails these boats can carry, the speeds are decently fast. If it's a windy day, the boat will heel over, the water will splash along the decks, and you'll experience some of the most fun that sailing has to offer.

 

After the finish line is crossed, the crew breaks out beer and water, and there's the pesky speedboat with the cameraman in it, trying to find the best spot to take a group photo. You tie up back on the mooring, sails are lowered, and the dance to put the next crew in the boat begins again.

 

The tenders take you back (of course) to the AC store on shore, where you can buy those photos, and other gifts. Some AC boat excursions apparently include a meal, which is served at the store.

 

All in all, I'd say it's a great experience for anyone, with any level of interest in sailing. I had a great time, and it could only have been improved if I could have had a minute at the wheel, to actually steer and sail the boat.

 

BTW, we (the Canada 2 boat) won our race that day. Whoo Hoo!

Edited August 4, 2011 by VideoTech