Team New Zealand are clearly the top guns at the America's Cup regatta and today they got Hollywood star Tom Cruise on board their giant catamaran for a spin around the San Francisco Bay.
Cruise and his adopted son Connor were guests of Emirates Team New Zealand for their final Louis Vuitton Cup round-robin race against Luna Rossa Challenge.
They watched the Kiwis' victory from the team's VIP vessel, Imagine, and afterwards the pair suited up in full sailing gear and jumped aboard the team's race boat, Aotearoa.
The Cruises joined the 11-man crew on the giant AC72 and helped on the winches to trim the rig and sails. They even got their hands on the wheel, taking over from skipper Dean Barker for a spell steering the boat.
"We were very fortunate to have Tom Cruise and his son jump on board for a ride around San Francisco Bay. They had an absolute ball," Barker.
"We had a nice reach back under the Bay Bridge, so Tom jumped on the handle bars (steering wheel) and did a better job than I did.
"He had a competition with his son to get the top speed. It was a real boost for the team to have someone like him come along."
ETNZ's AC72 might not be a supersonic jet fighter, but in marine terms it's an impressive beast. The publicity from having Cruise and his son along for a ride will certainly help the profile both of the America's Cup and ETNZ.
Here's hoping though that Cruise left all Scientology literature at home!
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