Sailing Charters?

Okay, while I was at the park for the remainder of the season, I was thinking about how they have fishing, boating and waverunner charters. I've asked a couple employees about having sailing charters, and they said that I could suggest it. The reason I would like them is because, well, sailing is fun. Also, while I was in the ride CP doesn't have that you wish it would, the topic of a family attraction was bought up a lot.So, why not a sailing charter?

The way I see this working is if they have a few large boats for a family to sail, such as some Catalina yachts, or perhaps even better, a couple Lagoon catamarans. Also they would need a few smaller boats that can be sailed single or double handed, such as Lasers, JY15s, 420's, Sunfish, Pico's, Vago's. Those are the only boats I can think of. For sailing, it would probably be similarly priced to the wave runners.

So, yes, here are the pro's:

• Sailing is fun and can actually be quite relaxing at times.
• Sailing can also be quite thrilling.
• Something the whole family can get in on.
• Would create more revenue for the park.
• CP would have more jobs open.

And the Con's:

• Just like boating and other water activities, weather plays a big role. It can't be too windy or too little wind.
• Sailing can get pretty hard. Tacking? Jibing? Points of Sail? What is this?
• Depending on what boat you pick(usually the smaller ones, as larger ones need to loose the keel before capsizing), Capsizing is pretty likely.
• The F**king boom. If any of you have ever gotten hit by this blasted spar on a jibe or any other reason, you know how much this hurts. I got hit with a boom in the side of my jaw, in the back of my head, and right in between my eyes. I've had some pretty scary moments in sail camp.

Sounds fun, but seeing as there isn't a ton of people who actually know how to sail that don't live near sail-friendly bodies of water, it might be a good idea to have someone with know-how take people out on the water rather than letting people who might not know what they're doing risk hurting themselves or damaging the boats. After all, as you mentioned, sailing is quite difficult in comparison to hopping on a waverunner.

(That said, sailing a boat yourself could be an option, as long as you could honestly say you knew what you were doing- and sign a waiver, of course.)

Skyhawk06 seems to have come up with more and better reasons to not do this than otherwise. Almost like a little argument with himself over nothing.
No thanks. I’ll spend my CP time on dry land or up in the air somewhere.

I'm just trying to get an idea out there...

SollyBeast, I like where you're going. Maybe they could offer sailing trips to the islands, being something relaxing to do(no grumble of the motor as on a waverunner or powerboat). It could be done, if you did this right. You could negate the capsizing by using boats such as Catalina Yachts(Hey, a new sponsor for CP) or maybe boats from Tartan Yachts. Those boats need a lot of wind, and even with the lots of wind, they're not too fast. Take something small like a JY15(I used them in sail camp) and you are going to be speeding off. Maybe for sailing small boats yourself there can be a minimum weight limit for single handing. After all, many places have done sailing charters and have had success with it, so why not Cedar Point?

Also, capsizing isn't really that scary to me now. To someone who has never sailed often or doesn't like the thought of it, capsizing can be scary. I forgot to mention how you can easily prevent capsizing, silly me. One way is to shift the weight in a small boat and hike out. You could also let out some sail so the wind doesn't overpower your boat. I remember a few capsizes I had in sail camp. Yes, I also capsized on purpose a few times.

Oh, so now there’s a danger of capsizing. That’s just the thing to offer a bunch of yahoos at an amusement park. Why not leave the risky charter sports to those that pursue that kind of thing? Parasailing and jet skis are probably enough.

Ok, maybe a day of sailing could be offered to hotel guests as something to do. But I’d think CP prefers their guests just head into the park with their money.

So, still. No.

Sounds like a way to turn millions into thousands.

B.O.A. T. - Break Out Another Thousand. The only way I can see them doing this is if the charter boats come with a captain. The captain can judge how much sailing knowledge the guests have and put them to work accordingly. Also, the captain can teach sailing to guests to improve their skills.

Is Captain Pete applying? :-)

SollyBeast and Pete, I like where your course is headed. It would be a great idea for the charter boats to have captains, but you would be probably on a Catalina or a tartan. As for you RCMAC, there's always been a danger of capsizing whether you go on a sailboat or those wave runners. But again, capsizing is pretty easily prevented while sailing. Of course, with sailboats you have to worry about heeling as well, where the boat tilts in the wind. Most boats sail at optimum power with a 15 degree heel, but I've had moments where the lee side actually gets buried undewater and having the boat floods. This happened in sail camp where our counsellors sent us out in heavy air. This was sail camp, and I was actually encouraged a couple times under supervision to capsize.

There's also a risk of turtling, pitchpoling, and death rolling. I don't think those things are too likely, especially if CP doesn't go out when the weather is bad enough, and sailboats are also designed to sail on a heel. So if Cedar Point stays within the limits of the weather and do everything in their power to prevent capsizing. Oi, funny story from sail camp...They actually let us swim, probably in the first week. I'm staying by my boat, swimming around, and then I look over. What I see is 10 or so people piling onto another JY, and it capsizes. I was laughing my butt off, to say the least. My camp counselors? Not so much.

Ok. Sailing is awesome, and you’re an expert.
And once again you’re posting ten reasons why this is a bad idea for amateurs at an amusement park.
Oi.

Love this idea! We rented a boat for 4 hours near CP and it cost us an arm and a leg. Would love if someone offered sailboat rides, or sunset excursions to sail around the bay!

I would love to see what kind of legal release form CP's lawyers would have to come up with for THIS attraction with all of Skyhawk's disaster disclaimers! LOL! Probably best left for some other enterprising sailors to tackle as a small business independent, isolated, and unaffiliated with Cedar Fair.

I'm getting mixed responses from this topic. Rusty, I think they would have to go with something similar to what they have with the waverunners. They're incredibly powerful and could force water down through your orifices. If there is one thing I hate about PWC's is that if the jet can't move, you can't steer. And also the fact you have to flip them the RIGHT way or otherwise you could get water into the engine. Not so much with sailboats.

For the boat charters, are you assigned a captain, or is a capable seaman/woman able to take charge of their own vessel?

Just curious. I would assume (per the description on the website) that someone is doing the driving for you.

Although it is not 100% clear on the website, I am almost certain that the boat has a captain and the guests just go for a ride.

Can we hire you, Pete?

I'm thinking something like this could work, especially as Cedar Point continues to broaden the "on the water" activities. It seems that they are trying to broaden their connections to the islands and the area in general...I'm not sure how much truth there is to that, but it seems that way, especially as the Shores and Islands continues to really improve their identity in Sandusky; at least from an outsiders perspective.

How I would see it working is like this;

1) Your party would meet with your captain, ready to set sail for an excursion that would introduce you all to sailing. You would spend 30 - 45 minutes getting assigned specific roles, and given jobs and a chance to practice your isolated tasks.

2) Along with the pro(s) on the boat, you set off on an excursion to a destination (perhaps out of a few choices); said excursion could also vary in difficulty from complete novice to "I kind've think I know what I'm doing".

3) The package could be enhanced with a congratulatory dinner at Bay Harbor

I don't know. For folks spending a week or so at the park, something like this could seemingly work. I bet there are some sailing lovers who would love to have a job as a "Cedar Point Sailing Pro"; in charge of teaching and facilitating the whole thing.

Mind you, I say all this having had zero experience on a sailboat in my life. I've always wanted to, though.

Why not? I'm not sure how much room there is for something like this at the Marina, though, or how much the marina residents would like something like this. Pete?

I don't believe it would bother the marina residents at all. The meeting point would probably on the main pier someplace and that pier is already a beehive of activity with the fuel docks, Famous Dave's, marina office and marina store. A few more people going out sailing would not be any type of disturbance at all.

Kevinj said:

Can we hire you, Pete?

Well, can we?

Yes, we should hire Pete. I still have more things I must learn about sailing though. XD Kevinj, I think you would love sailing. Some aspects are difficult, but so much fun. Wait, pete, have you been on a sailboat, or just power boats?

Sailboats don’t get anywhere fast. Do you think CP guests would want to spend 4 - 8 hours on a nice summer day away from CP and the rides since they spent all their time and money getting to CP in the first place? And i second (or 3rd) the boat would have to have a captain. Sailing is hard work and takes years to learn. Pete can prolly answer this but the bay is not deep at all... sailboats can only motor in the shipping channel... to do any sailing they would have to get all the way out into the deeper water of the lake. I once sailed from the Huron river to a marina in downtown sandusky... it took 8 hours.... that’s a 10 min car ride.