Cruising Idea Takes a Bruising

Rob / 13.04.2005

A novel new idea for an adventure race got off to a stormy start recently, when the world’s first adventure racing cruise was announced.

The ‘race’ called ‘Crusin for a Brusin’ offers a 7 day luxury cruise from Miami to the Western Caribbean with four days of racing staged at the ports of call. It will run from January 8th 2006 and offers ‘all the usual disciplines you have in an adventure race; jungle trekking, swimming, mountain biking, kayaking, rope work, plus a few more’.

Unfortunately, the organizers chose to announce the race idea but keep many of the details, including who they were, a secret. This coupled with a race website that looked like a crude cruise ship site (and had domain name ownership hidden), plus a very tight entry deadline of April 18th got the wrong reaction.

Cautious internet browsers and experienced racers were soon asking on newsgroups if this was some sort of scam. [When I first heard of the race I emailed them to ask who was behind it and got a reply but no answer – so we didn’t publish any news of it. – Ed.]

As it turned out the idea and intentions were genuine, but the marketing had backfired. Soon Joe and Linda from Wisconsin Adventure Racing were explaining themselves and trying to get out the news the race was NOT a scam.

“We thought we would have some fun with the racers by being somewhat mysterious as to who we are. And have a total surprise on the ship when the teams learned who is actually running the race …. Boy I guess that was a MISTAKE! I would have never thought the AR community would be so negative, or suspicious about something new. But I was proved very wrong! I assure you we meant no harm.”

The explanation of how their plans went wrong is now on the racewebsite, and the race stops have been announced as Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman Islands, and Cozumel. The disciplines, course lengths and stages are still ‘coming soon’, but the organisers say they have had a big response and are trying to extend the deadline. They are also looking at introducing a pairs class.

It’s a pity the plan got off to such a shaky start as it’s a great idea. It’s a chance to mix some relaxation with a race in exotic locations, and to reward you ‘significant other’ with a luxury trip.

If you like the idea of somewhat mysterious racing cruise see http://www.crusinforabrusin.com for more information, but you’ll have to move fast to book a cabin.