The America’s Cup kicks off on Thursday in Bermuda, with some of the world’s top sailors set to compete for the oldest trophy in competitive sailing.
Those economic benefits have also spilled into the Virgin Islands, as multiple charter yacht companies are delivering yachts and conducting charters there.
“This is our first time going to an event of this size,” said Jan Critchley, the crewed yacht manager at VI branch of The Moorings, which is the “official charter yacht supplier” of the America’s Cup.
Because of that designation, Moorings vessels will have special access to the “designated on-water spectator zone” for the racing, according to the company.
“We’re sending five boats out, and will be undertaking charters while we’re in Bermuda. People chartering will have front-row seats to the spectacular racing action,” Ms. Critchley told the Beacon.
Along with the boats, The Moorings is also sending 11 crewmembers, she said.
More VI companies
Other VI charter companies include Dream Yacht Charters, which is sending one crew and is also renting out 10 boats to conduct charters there; Regency Yacht Charters, which is sending one boat; and Barecat Charters, which helped deliver a boat to the event.
“I came on delivery of a Lagoon 500 that I manage along with the owner,” said Barecat owner Nelson Ray Boothe. “We’ve met a lot of people that came here via the BVI.”
Yann Leboyer, the manager for the VI branch of Dream Yacht Charters, said the event is great publicity for his company.
Ms. Critchley expressed similar sentiments, adding that participating in such a large competition “is an opportunity for The Moorings to see how things works with this type of event.”
According to the America’s Cup website, the event started in 1851 when a group of businessmen from New York sailed the schooner America across the Atlantic Ocean to represent the United States at the World’s Fair in England.
The America won the event, kicking off a 132-year stretch of domination that saw boats representing the US successfully defend the trophy 24 times from 1870 through 1980 — until 1983, when Australia II became the first successful challenger to lift the trophy.
The America’s Cup was held sporadically from 1851 to 1958, and has been held about every three to four years since then.
The latest America’s Cup was held in San Francisco in 2013, with the Oracle Team USA successfully defending its championship.
When Bermuda was announced in 2015 as the venue for this year’s competition, excitement rippled through the territory’s yachting community.
“We actually thought we were the stalking horse, that we were there to encourage the US cities to be serious,” said one of the event’s organisers, Michael Winfield, according to an October 2015 New York Times article. “When they actually wrote to us confirming that we had won, we actually had the lawyers check the letter because we couldn’t find the loophole. It took the lawyers two days to go through a two-paragraph letter and say in fact that there was no loophole: You’ve got it.”
{fcomment}