You’re not big into sports huh? People have been sailing for millennia, and competing for who knows how long.
The Bermuda race (which is from RI not NY) has been going on for over a hundred years, the boats are inspected for safety requirements and there’s a minimum crew safety cert requirement too.
There’s also a Marion, MA to Bermuda race, which has a division navigating solely by celestial navigation. Some of these “morons” may have better navigation skills than the mate on your ship.