Part of the Crew, but Not Part of the Action : Sailing: Introducing the 17th man--on Stars & Stripes, he’s just along for the ride.

Whether you’re a janitor or a gym rat, you, too, can be part of an America’s Cup crew.

That’s right, the crew. You don’t have to sit on a dock and wave a flag anymore.

When the new International America’s Cup Class yachts debuted last year at the World Championships, the idea of the 17th man surfaced.

Since the hands holding the purse strings for the syndicates aren’t necessarily sailors, someone thought it was a good idea if the owners, sponsors or whoever had a chance to actually sail on a yacht. He could be the crew’s 17th man.

“In any other type of yacht race you can have someone who just rides along,” said Bill Trenkle of Team Dennis Conner. “Until now, in the America’s Cup boats, you couldn’t have anyone just observing. This allows you to bring people who are so key to your program and to the event, into the event. It’s a great idea.”

Laurence Grunstein, president of Citizen Watch Company of America, thought it was a great idea when Conner asked him to be the 17th man aboard Stars & Stripes on the opening day of the defense trials Tuesday.

Being a man whose life revolves around time, it’s no surprise Grunstein got a kick out of the start of the race between Stars & Stripes and Bill Koch’s Defiant.

“The real excitement was when I was timing the countdown and I could see the orange and yellow markers where the two boats were,” Grunstein said. “All of the sudden, the gun goes off and you realize you’re racing.”

Grunstein said he slept a full eight hours Monday night and wasn’t nervous before the day began. The calm demeanor of Conner and his crew throughout the day afternoon was a good reason for him to stay equally calm.

“Everyone was talking in a normal tone of voice,” he said, “discussing where they were going to go, what they were going to do. Everything was very relaxed.”

The pace picked up, Grunstein said, when the boat prepared to tack, jibe or round a mark.

“That’s when there was a lot of action, you could really feel the energy,” he said. “I had to be particularly sensitive to stay away from (the crew) so they could get their job done.”

While there was a steady flow of conversation between Conner and his crew, Grunstein stayed in the back of the boat and kept his questions to himself.

“My role was to sit, listen, observe and enjoy,” Grunstein said. “There’s a lot of discussion going on about tactics, the course and the distance of the other boat. The last thing they need is me chatting.”

One of the lighter moments of the day for the whole crew came on the next to last reach.

“We were going side to side with Defiant and finally they tacked away,” Grunstein said. “Dennis put his hands up like Rocky. Everyone got a good laugh out of it.”

Grunstein was equally amused toward the latter part of the day when, on several occasions, Conner would turn around and ask him what sail to use or what tack to take.

“He’d ask me, ‘What should I do Larry? What now? Am I doing the right thing?’ ” he said.

Had Stars & Stripes been able to use its spinnaker with the Citizen logo, it was an otherwise perfect day for Grunstein.

“But it’s for heavy winds,” he said. “They made the spinnaker in May, when the winds are heavier than they are now. So they couldn’t use it today.”

Very few rules apply to the 17th man other than he must stay behind the helm area of the boat, he can’t participate in the actual sailing or have contact with any equipment on board and he must wear clothing that distinguishes him from the other crew members. Someone suggested that photo bugs can’t use Polaroid, but Trenkle put that rumor to rest.

There is a 198-pound average per person weight limit on the IACC boats, but unless the Japanese bring a Sumo wrestler in as an observer, it shouldn’t affect the weight requirement.