Rent a regatta experience

In this report by Jonathan Russo on Worth.com, they share how you can now acquire a spot (or several) on a fully manned, state of the art racing vessel for the grand prix racing experience:

Once in a while, a business venture so closely aligns with cultural trends that it seems like one gave birth to the other.

The newly developed opportunity by Open Ocean Experience (OOE) may qualify for that perception by creating an experience without the constraint of possession.

According to OOE’s creator Jesse Fielding, “The desire for bucket list experiences is one of the key drivers of the high-end travel industry, participating in a grand prix sailing event or record attempt is one of those once-in-a-lifetime events.”

The A-list includes destinations familiar to the eye: Les Voiles de St. Barth, Antigua Sailing Week, The Middle Sea Race, Sydney to Hobart, The RORC 600 Caribbean Race, and Trans-Atlantic Record.

The common thread of all these regattas is the participation of the fastest, most competitive boats in the world. Crewed by top sailing masters, navigators, weather routers, and crew, these maxi-class racing machines represent the state of the art in construction and design.

The only caveat is that competing at this level is both extremely expensive and perhaps more importantly; time-consuming. A multi-regatta campaign can easily be $5 million a year.

The other option that has been available is to seek out, negotiate and charter one of these competitive boats. While that avoids the long-term commitment aspect, other hurdles include forming a racing team, a tremendous knowledge of the specific boat’s capabilities, trim, and crew availability, their skills, and last but not least insurance requirements.

According to Jesse, “This level of knowledge is reserved for a handful of sailors who have put in a lot of time and effort just to do one regatta.”  – Full report