11/26/2005

Look like Oracle or Alinghi for under $200 bucks!

We all know how exciting it is to watch an America’s Cup team on television sailing around the course with their magnificent hulls and team uniforms. Everything matches, right down to their socks. Of course with their $50 to $90 million dollar budgets we expect to see that. Many of us dream of sailing on such a team or at least having one of their hats. From looking at them while sitting in our living rooms we think that having team uniforms is totally out of the question because of cost or, you think your team isn’t worthy. We’re here to tell you it’s not! For under $200 bucks you can have matching hats, shirts and even jackets, all embroidered with your logo that will bring a little pride and honor to your team. For as little as $60 bucks you can at least get team hats!

Why a team uniform

What a uniform does is bring pride to the team and a little extra excitement to the boat. How many times have we watched movies about a high school basketball or football team who are wearing old torn up uniforms because they can’t afford anything else? Because of this their self esteem is low and they all wish they could look like the “rich” team they are getting ready to compete against. They all look across the court or field and see the other team is brand new fancy uniforms, in perfect condition, full of pride and confidence. We feel with them their disappointment and envy. The camera at this point usually pans down the bench showing us their sad faces and embarrassment. Then, at the last minute, the coach bust in with a dolly full of boxes filled with new uniforms for the team. Of course this injection of inspiration lifts the team and fills with them with confidence! This new pride brings victory in the end! This is the same thing with your sailing team. Maybe not the victory but certainly the pride and joy of being on a team.

What we did when looking for team apparel was to be creative and looked for deals. First we found a team apparel company that could do the embroidering. What we found was the standard cost for embroidering was around $6 per item. Next we picked out hats from their catalog. Hats can range from as little as $5 to as high as $20 per hat. We found a great low rise cotton hat for $5 bucks. If you’re not sure what kind of hat to get talk to your local snowboarder or skateboarder. They will point you in the right direction when choosing a right style.

Next we went to Wal Mart to see what they had to offer in cool shirts. To our surprise they had some fun car mechanic style shirts on sale for $7 bucks. We picked up 4. We also went to Target and found some nice Polo style shirts for $7 to $14 dollars which would look great as well.

Now, an item we didn’t expect to purchase, because of our budget, were team jackets but one day while at COSCO we found some great water resistant navy blue jackets for $19. They’re golf jackets but what the heck. We couldn’t resist and picked up 4.

Here’s what we ended up with:

• 4 Hats - $44 embroidered
• 4 Shirts - $52 embroidered
• 4 Jackets - $104 embroidered

Total Cost for 12 items – $200

You can see if we dropped the jackets we would have come in under $100 and could have picked up 4 Polo’s and stayed under our $200 budget.

So, if you are willing to do some creative shopping you’ll be able to find some great deals. Plus, it’s fun to see how cheap you can get stuff and still look great!

Also, what we have done to keep cost down is; the uniforms are checked out to the team before the regattas, then, turned back in, cleaned and stored on the boat. This way you can always have a great looking team while on the water through out the year.

We hope this information will inspire some of you that thought team uniforms were too expensive and venture out and find some great deals and give your team a little boost of pride and excitement. We also hope you purchase a few extra hats so we can trade with you at the next regatta! (Never seem to have enough hats)

Have fun out there and we look forward to seeing you in your new sailing apparel!