Sea Scouts at the America's Cup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Report 1 - February 14, 2003

Hello from Auckland, New Zealand! It’s Friday, February 14th, and Sea Scouts from the USA are here! (Well, three of us are. Nicolette had a travel glitch and will join us VERY early tomorrow morning.) Frank, Cynthia, and Chris reported to the Outboard Boating Club, (Operations HQ for the America’s Cup Course Marshals), this morning. The activity of the day was a “Sail-by”; a boat parade off of the Auckland waterfront to honor Team New Zealand and to celebrate this great event. The Course Marshals set buoys for the around 400 ships and boats that passed in front of the Viaduct Harbor area of downtown. It was a terrific sight, and we had a lot of fun on the water. Our hosts could not have been nicer and they made us feel very welcome. Returning to shore in the evening, we attended a gathering at the Royal New Zealand Squadron yacht club. People seemed very pleased to see us and to hear about Sea Scouting in the USA. We even got to see the Cup! All in all it was a great day. The next two weeks promise to be a memorable experience!

Report from Nicolette Ward:

I arrived in New Zealand very early this morning. I went straight to bed in tired anticipation of the long day ahead of me. I woke at 6:45 surprisingly refreshed by the few meager hours of sleep I had managed to accrue and excited to start my first day as a Course Marshal for the 2003 America’s Cup. After putting on my Sea Scout uniform and eating breakfast, Frank, Chris, Cynthia and I headed out for the docks. During the twenty-five minute walk I was amazed at the beautiful views of the sunny ocean and New Zealand hills that provided a striking comparison to the clouds and rain I had left behind in California.

When we arrived at the club to meet our fellow Course Marshals, I was introduced to the coordinator and given a run down of the duties that I, with my fellow boat mates, would be responsible for. Right before we headed out, I was delighted to be deemed an honorary loyal Kiwi which was also their way of suggesting which team I should be cheering for in the day’s race. I set off out of the harbor on a small power boat with three other individuals well versed in the art of Course Marshaling. Our mission was to place the race buoys that would separate the teams and the spectators. We were also to keep the somewhat overzealous viewers behind the line of buoys by threatening them with rather politely worded signs which read “please stay back.” When the race started I was as excited as any New Zealand or Swiss national watching the two boats from a court side seat battling it out on the wet playing field. Yet when the next leg came, something went wrong and the New Zealand ship was forced to withdraw from the race. As any honorary Kiwi would naturally feel, I was very disappointed. The Swiss team had to continue and finish the race so the rest of the day was spent watching the Swiss ship sail around the course. For the next couple of hours we went back and forth keeping the spectators in check, while bouncing off the rather rough and windy seas. As disappointed as I was with the non-race, my excitement reared up as my fellow mates and I gathered the last buoy to go back to the docks when the just-crossed-the-finish-line Swiss team sailed only ten feet away from us. I saw the sailors, the ship, and the chase boats up close and I knew at that moment that I was going to have an amazing time on this trip because after all, this was just my first day.

As I walked away from the club waving goodbye to my boat mates, now friends I looked forward to seeing tomorrow, I met up with Frank, Cynthia and Chris and discussed our first day on the job. We walked back home; yes the hotel room with its cute little rooms and kitchenette already feels like home and we ate dinner. Soon I will be getting the long awaited sleep I have been craving for the last hour. After just today I am having an incredible time and learning a lot, I can only imagine what I will do, see, and experience in the next couple of weeks.

Sea Scouting is a co-educational program offered to young adults between the ages of 14 and 21. Sea Scouting is organized to promote better citizenship and to improve members' boating skills and knowledge through instruction and practice in water safety, boating skills, outdoor, social, and service experiences, and knowledge of our maritime heritage. For information on the Sea Scout unit nearest you, contact your local Boy Scouts of America council, or write to "Sea Scouts," c/o Boy Scouts of America, P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079; or e-mail, moreinfo@seascout.org. http://www.seascout.org.

For additional information and press contacts, please write to Christopher K. Sokolov, Sea Scouts, B.S.A.; 575 Scarsdale Rd, Crestwood, NY 10707; or email csokolov@seascout.org.