Sailing aboard an America’s Cup yacht is a thrilling experience that still makes the hair on Stevie Dickinson’s neck stand up decades later.

One of the Island’s most diverse sailors was offered the chance of a lifetime in 1984 when he was invited to sail with America’s Cup racing syndicate Courageous.

It was an opportunity that Dickinson will forever cherish.

“It was definitely one of my greatest sailing experiences that I will forever cherish because you are talking about an America’s Cup boat here,” Dickinson said. “America’s Cup was a very big thing back then and still is.

“That experience was very exciting. I had a little session with them on the old 12-Metre keelboat and it was an absolute blast.

“I lasted a couple of weeks with them and went through the process of training. We were doing aerobics and all of that stuff to get fit which was a nice experience as well.”

Local sailing enthusiasts received a rare treat when Courageous and fellow American syndicate Defender were shipped to the Island to train during the winter months in preparation for the 1987 America’s Cup in Perth — the first challenge by the United States in more than a century.

“The old 12 Metres were not that fast,” Dickinson said. “But it was a very tactical boat so we still had lots of fun sailing around in it.”

It is often said that history has a funny way of repeating itself. This has somewhat proven to be the case for Dickinson as three decades later he once again finds himself heavily involved in the America’s Cup.

For the past several weeks he has been helping with the construction of Oracle Team USA’s new headquarters at the Royal Naval Dockyard.

“We had 28 days to finish the Oracle building and we did it,” said the multiple US International Comet Championship winner and Central American and Caribbean Games silver medallist. “I am still doing little odds and ends here and there and it has been very exciting to watch Oracle work as a team and get the boat together.”

Work at Oracle’s base came to a virtual standstill when the defender of the America’s Cup — the oldest trophy in international sport — launched their turbocharged AC45S catamaran this week.

“It’s really amazing to see that boat go so fast,” Dickinson said. “I watched them rig the boat and it was incredible.

“It’s really going to be difficult to focus on your work now because the speeds this boat does are unbelievable. It’s always sort of hard to do your work when these guys are around doing their stuff because what they are doing is so amazing.”

Dickinson is familiar with catamarans having previously sailed in the Olympic Class Tornado which is a smaller cousin to the modern day America’s Cup class foilers.

“I can’t believe how much the America’s Cup has changed,” he said. “Everything is speed now and the technology going into these boats is just unbelievable. A Tornado never went that fast.”

When asked would he like to sail in the souped-up AC45S, Dickinson said: “My heart won’t be able to take it. Maybe for a short ride and then the rescue boat can come and get me after ten minutes.”

Bermuda will host all America’s Cup racing in 2017 as well as an America’s Cup World Series event in October of this year.

Dickinson, one of Bermuda’s most decorated dinghy sailors, is confident Bermuda will rise to the challenge of staging one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events for the first time.

“It’s going to be a wonderful event and the people here are going to see some awesome speeds and awesome action in these boats,” he said. “This event is going to make a lot of people here realise that sailing is a sharp sport.”