FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kristin Jautz, American Yacht Club,
KristinJautz@verizon.net,
(914) 772-5844, or
Marlieke Eaton, US SAILING,
Marliekeeaton@ussailing.org, (401) 683-0800
WORLD-CLASS SAILORS TO COMPETE IN U.S. DISABLED SAILING CHAMPIONSHIP ON LONG ISLAND SOUND, JUNE 6 – 9
RYE, N.Y. (May 27, 2008)
— They are successful surgeons and coaches, professors and investment
bankers, entrepreneurs and parents. They are nationally and internationally
recognized as outstanding athletes. And: they are physically disabled.
Dozens of sailors from the United States and Canada will gather on the first
weekend in June to compete for US SAILING’s Chandler Hovey trophy and the
Judd Goldman trophy at a four-day event hosted in Rye, N.Y., by the American
Yacht Club (AYC) and neighboring Larchmont Yacht Club (LYC). It is the only
national sailing championship for disabled sailors. Managed by US SAILING,
the sport’s national governing body, the challenge is open to any sailor
with a physical disability. Past events have included quadriplegics,
paraplegics and amputees, as well as individuals with multiple sclerosis,
cerebral palsy, polio and ALS. Several of the participants will go on to
compete in the Paralympic Games in China this coming September.
“These athletes defy the public image of disabled people living in a deep
depression and waiting for their next disability check”, says Hugh Elliott,
chief judge for the event and himself a former Paralympic contender. “They
have overcome enormous challenges, and they are better people for it.”
Racing sailboats is one of the only sports where disabled and able-bodied
athletes can compete as equals. In many cases, adaptive aids are used and
modifications made to equipment on board the boats to minimize disability
and maximize ability. AYC's Regatta Chair Bill Sandberg says the competitors
are outstanding sailors who “just happen to have a disability.”
Competition will be held in three classes of boats: 2.4mR (singlehanded,
meaning one sailor); Sonar (triplehanded); and Ideal 18 (doublehanded). In
order to level the playing field in the Sonar class, the athletes are rated
by their disability - someone with a 7 rating being the most able-bodied -
and the numbers are then added up to a team rating. Each team must stay
below a certain number of points in order to qualify.
Mark LeBlanc from New Orleans will attempt to defend last year’s title in
the 2.4mR class against a formidable field of contenders, including former
Paralympian Bruce Millar and Paul Tingley, who will go on to represent
Canada at the Paralympics this fall.
The competition in the Sonar class is expected to be fierce, as U.S.
Paralympic team members Rick Doerr, Tim Angle and Bill Donohue will face off
against last year’s winners Albert Foster, David Burdette and Jim Thweatt,
as well as former Paralympic contenders Paul Callahan, Roger Cleworth and
Tom Brown. The Canadian team of Danny McCoy (replacing an injured Ken
Kelly), Don Terlson and Marc Shaw has also qualified for the Paralympics.
The Ideal 18 class, initially intended as an entry-level competition, has
attracted some unexpected buzz as the Canadian Paralympic team of John
McRoberts and Stacy Louttit, who usually sail in the Skud-18 class, are
going to compete for the title against world-class sailors such as last
year’s winner in the Freedom 20 class, Jean-Paul Creignou. Sarah Skeels and
Bob Jones – a Skud team that placed fourth at the US Trials – are each going
to skipper their own boat. West Coast sailor Mike Strahle, Trapseat Hobie
champion, will switch to a monohull to compete in the Championship.
Rolex Watch U.S.A., Dry Creek Vineyard, UBS, The Carlyle Group, Heineken and
EMA Clocks are all sponsors for the event.
Since the 1980s, US SAILING has actively supported sailboat racing among
physically challenged sailors. The winner in the Sonar class will receive US
SAILING's Chandler Hovey, Jr. Trophy, named for “Buzz” Hovey. Hovey was
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1947, but continued to race actively --
with able-bodied sailors -- until he retired from the racing circuit in
1981. The Judd Goldman Trophy, given to the winner in the 2.4mR class, is
named for Justin “Judd” Goldman (1914-1989). Despite his own physical
disability, Goldman was an accomplished sailor and inspired the creation of
the Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Program in Chicago, Illinois.
The inaugural Independence Cup took place in 1990 and the event has been
held annually since then. For the past decade, the Chicago Yacht Club hosted
the U.S. Disabled Sailing Championship. Beginning this year, the
Championship will be hosted by different sailing organizations around the
country every year to expand awareness of disabled sailing and encourage
disabled individuals to take up the sport.
Numerous media opportunities exist during the four-day regatta. Media
outlets interested in covering the event are asked to contact Kristin Jautz,
the PR coordinator for AYC. For more information about the U.S. Disabled
Sailing Championship, please visit
www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usic.
This site will be updated with daily reports, latest results, and photos as
the event is happening.
About the American Yacht Club
The American Yacht Club (AYC) was founded in 1883 in New York City and this
year is celebrating its 125 anniversary. Originally a club for steam yachts,
AYC is now a premier sailing and racing club. In the past, Club members have
been America's Cup Defenders, Trans-Atlantic, and Bermuda Race winners. AYC
sailors have been Long Island Sound, North American and World Champions in a
number of classes. They have competed in the Olympics and captured Olympic
medals - most recently in 1996, when Courtenay Becker-Dey took a bronze in
the Europe class. Four AYC skippers have won the U.S. Women's Sailing
Championship. AYC is proud to promote yacht design and prominent sailboat
designers such as Bill Tripp and the Herreshoffs are or have been members.
Located at the tip of Milton Point in Rye, New York, the club currently has
about 900 members. For more information and directions, please visit
www.americanyc.com.
American Yacht Club would like to thank the Flag Officers and members of
Larchmont Yacht Club for their cooperation and support for this year’s
Championship. Larchmont Yacht Club will be hosting the Championship in 2011
with the support of American Yacht Club.
About US SAILING
The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) is the national governing
body for sailing. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode
Island, the organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the
United States. US SAILING offers training and education programs for
instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing
organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and
provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the
country, including National Championships and the U.S. Olympic and
Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit
www.ussailing.org.
(End)