Polynesia Civilization

I like their abililty - May cross ocean straight away.

I was thinking of playing the terra map (where all civs start in the old world) - then start polynesia in north america right away, You may loose a few turns, but there no chance of war for a while. Which will allow you to prosper.

Have anybody tried this already - how did it turn out?

I don't like how their unique unit shows a Maori warrior with a machete like weapon. They could have spent 5 minutes researching Maori warriors before drawing the units.

Yes, this "Let's set on the New World" stuff exists; there are few threads about it. It's call something like "Hail Mary" (you can find the thread by checking on Googoole).
But I wouldn' recomand it: you will spend at least 15/20 turns to find the New World, you will miss the others civ (and some wonders), so no opportunities of trade, and "america" is generally poor in luxury resources. The better way is to settle Honolulu on the Old World, then send few settlers on the new continent. Remember: Polynesian triremes (and later galleass) can cross oceans, send them to explore before.

And dont' let your settlers unescorted: the New World is usually a barbarian stronghold!

Yes, I've tried it. their UA is really only useful for archipelago map. And I tried them on my very first game, so I probably did horrible with them.