Registration open for Rally to the Cup 2017
by Barby MacGowan on 26 Jul 2016
The Rally to the Cup will start in six different ports on the East Coast of the United States and end in Bermuda in time for the America’s Cup finals. David H. Lyman
Offshore Passage Opportunities OPO) has announced that registration for its “Rally to the Cup” is now open. The Rally departs from several East Coast ports on June 7th, 2017 to allow enough time for arriving in Bermuda before the June 17 start of the finals for the 35th America’s Cup.
It will provide dock space at the St. Georges Sports and Dinghy Club for the first 20 to 25 boats to sign up and a designated anchorage area (with launch service) or a berth along the wall in St. Georges for all others.
“Sailing to destinations as a group is an extremely rewarding experience, and Bermuda is just a short challenging few days’ sail away,” said OPO’s CEO Hank Schmitt, well known in cruising and yacht delivery circles for his orchestration of the annual North American Rally to the Caribbean
NARC). “Most Americans do not have time to attend the entire race series, but with some planning, sailing to Bermuda for the finals and back is doable.”
The rally fee of $199 per boat plus $150 per person includes rally planning and logistics, three socials, weather forecasting by WRI, Radio Net, help with customs and immigration as well as logistics in Bermuda, a Rally burgee, and T-Shirts for all crew.
“Simply put, this is about further promoting the rally concept and getting as many boats to Bermuda as possible,” said Schmitt, adding that he flew to New Zealand twice while New Zealand hosted the America’s Cup. “The people of Bermuda are more gaga over the America’s Cup than even the Kiwis were in 2000, so it should be great fun!”
Departure Ports and Hosts
The Rally to the Cup departs from six different ports, each of which have a host committed to welcoming participants. They are: Southwest Harbor, Maine/Hinckley Yacht Services; New York Harbor/Raritan Yacht Club (New Jersey); Newport, R.I./ Offshore Passage Opportunities; Annapolis, Md./National Sailing Hall of Fame; and Charleston S.C., Ocean Sailing Academy; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Blue Water Sailing School.
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