Sailing Ship Adventures is a travel services that books specialty vacations on sailing ships that range from the largest full rigged sailing ship (The Royal Clipper) to smaller ships and chartered yachts. Sailing Ship Adventure’s fleet includes more than 100 full-rigged tall ships. If you’ve ever dreamed about sailing the seas on a tall ship, Sailing Ship Adventures can put you there. Available Destinations include the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe. Spring break and summer will be here soon – visit the Sailing Ship Adventure website to being planning your tall ship vacation.

BMW Oracle Racing Team won Race 2 of the 33rd America’s Cup off the coast of Valencia and took the America’s Cup trophy. The team, founded a decade ago by successful software entrepreneur Larry Ellison, crossed the finish line in the high-tech trimaran USA a full 5 minutes ahead of the Alinghi team. For the first time Ellison was on board the USA, enjoying victory on his first American’s Cup match race. The Valentine’s Day win made BMW Oracle Racing the first victorious American team in the America’s Cup since 1992.

The America’s Cup 34 will be held in 3 or 4 years and defended by The Golden Gate Yacht Club, Larry Ellison’s club. Many are wondering if it the venue will be San Francisco Bay, which has heavy cargo traffic. Other possible locations that have been mentioned are San Diego, California, Newport, Rhode Island and Valencia.

The 33rd Americas Cup is now underway in Valencia, Spain. The race is between just two teams, defender Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing. The 2010 America’s Cup has been one of the most controversial to date. Following several months of litigation, both teams agreed to a one-on-one Deed of Gift match. The boats, named Alinghi 5 and USA 17, are 90 ft. sailing multi-hulls. We’ve written here before about the benefits of multi-hulls, and this race is proving us right in the extreme. These vessels are capable of going “faster than the wind.” Power boats carrying film crews and race officials are having a hard time keeping up.

The first two days of scheduled racing were postponed due to rough wind and wave conditions. The first race was held today and the winning team was BMW Oracle Racing. The next race in this “first to two” competition will be Sunday, Feb. 14. See Race 1 in this YouTube video.

Selling a used boat can be a challenging undertaking in today’s economic climate. There are advantages to selling your boat yourself, also known as FSBO (“For Sale by Owner”), including saving money on a broker’s commission. In order to sell quickly and get the best price, owner’s should use several strategies. Putting a For Sale sign on the boat and listing it in local marine publications is a good way to start. The next important state to take is marketing the boat online. Online boat classified ads and marketing services provide maximum exposure. Owners can post full-color, digital photos of their boats. Online boat ads offer competitive rates, allowing you to post several ads for your boat.

Some of the top online boat sale sites include BoatTrader.com, eBoatTrader.com, Boats.com and YachtWorld.com.

There are many reasons for choosing a sailing catamaran over a monohull.   Red Gibbons identifies these Top 6 Advantages of a Sail-Cruising Catamaran:

The Tall Ships Challenge 2010 racing series will bring a fleet of tall ships from around the world to the Great Lakes. Sponsored by the American Sail Training Association (ASTA) and Great Lakes United, the event will promote water conservation education and youth sail training. The racing series will take place on the world’s largest fresh water body and will cross all five Great Lakes.

Great Lakes United is a coalition that works to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Great Lakes. Comprised of environmentalists, academics, conservationists, Native tribes and other concerned citizens, the organization works to clean up pollution and stop invasive species in the Great Lakes. The Tall Ships Challenge 2010, billed as “The Race to Save the Lakes,” will take place from June 30 through August 29.

In 2009, ASTA sponsored a Tall Ships Challenge that crossed the Atlantic. See amazing footage of Tall Ships in action in this YouTube video from that event.

The EYC hosts a sail racing program and junior sailing program, as well as a sailing instructional program. Find out more at the Edgewood Yacht Club website.

The Erie Yacht Club is one of the largest and oldest privately owned Great Lakes yacht clubs. Erie Yacht Club is located on the shores of the Presque Isla Bay of Lake Erie. The club was founded in 1895 by George T. Bliss, who served as Erie Yacht Club’s first Commodore. The club’s membership has had ups and downs over the years, but currently boasts a roster of over 1,200 members. Club members are committed to promote, encourage and develop yachting activities on Lake Erie. The club’s Reyburn Sailing School has a 60-year history of teaching juniors and adults water safety and the fine art of sailing.

When the weather turns cold, many East Coast yachtsman dream of the warm waters of the Caribbean. For those lucky enough to make call the Virgin Islands home, the Royal British Virgin Islands Yacht Club (RBVIYC) is an active club that plans an eventful year of raising, cruising, angling and social events. The origin of the RBVIYC dates back to 1973, though a permanent home for the club wasn’t established until 1993.

Country singer Craig Morgan had a hit in 2005 with the song Redneck Yacht Club, where he summed up what weekend boating is all about for many people who are not members of traditional yacht clubs. Here are some lyrics from the chorus:

Bass trackers, bayliners, and a party barge
Strung together like a floatin’ trailer park
Anchored out and gettin’ loud all summer long
Side by side, there’s five houseboat front porches
Astroturfs, lawn chairs, and tiki torches
Regular Joes rockin’ the boat, that’s us
The Redneck Yacht Club.

The video for the song was filmed on Percy Priest Lake in Tennessee. You can see the Redneck Yacht Club video on YouTube.