Sea Scouts at the America's Cup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Report 7 – March 3, 2003

All things have a time to be and a time to be done. The official presence of Sea Scouts from America here in Auckland for America’s cup 2003 is over. The race series was not complete as Frank, Nicolette and Cynthia prepared to catch their flights home. No one wanted to leave before the event was concluded but other obligations required their return as scheduled. Following a late night and an early wake-up, those three winged homeward on Sunday, March the 2nd. I was able to do a bit of schedule juggling and will remain here in Auckland for an additional week. This allowed me to be on the water for the fifth and final race between the Swiss Team Alinghi and Team New Zealand. Skipper Dean Barker and his New Zealand crew were out there sailing on Hauraki Gulf with determination, heart, and guts, but it wasn’t enough to take the day, (a broken spinnaker pole didn’t help either). The Swiss syndicate won the race and the series with a 5-0 sweep, and it was over.

New Zealanders are passionately competitive. What I witnessed after the final race shows that they are also possessed of grace and style. There were no excuses. It was acknowledged that Alinghi simply ran an impeccable campaign and out-sailed the defenders. I had the great pleasure to attend a party on Sunday night, where I me Dean Barker and Tom Schnackenberg, the Team NZ syndicate head. The evening was not about “crying in your beer”. It was about recognizing a tremendous effort and about acknowledging the love and support of the people of Auckland and of the whole of New Zealand. The night was rich with emotion and very up in attitude. A bit of America’s Cup history is over and the future of the world’s premier sailing race is yet to be told. My hunch is that New Zealand will be very much in the middle of that telling. We four U.S. Sea Scouts have tremendously enjoyed being able to be a part of all this and the people we have met and the times we have shared will last long in our memories.

Christopher Fox

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.