- Local News for Southern Sailors - December 2001 Next Story
Champion sailors come to St. Petersburg for Disabled Worlds
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By Doran Cushing
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"They're athletes first,
sailors second, and disabled third." That's how event chairman Serge Jorgensen described the participants at the 2001 World Disabled Sailing Championships, sailed on Tampa Bay and hosted Oct. 24-31 by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club.
Twenty-nine teams from nine countries sailed in two very different fleets of raceboats—the solo-crewed 2.4 mR and the three-crew Sonars. And they sailed the boats in some of the most difficult conditions found on Tampa Bay. With winds gusting out of the north over 20 knots and a strong incoming (northbound) tide, it couldn't have been much more miserable for racers and race workers.
Linda Merkle of Atlanta, GA, was one of dozens of volunteers working at the regatta. As a technical advisor from the International Foundation of Disabled Sailing (IFDS), she had previously attended world championships in Europe and the 2000 Sydney Paralympics in Australia.
"The conditions (on Tampa Bay) were tougher than Sydney," Merkle said. "The first race was right at the edge of the top limits (for wind and sea conditions), but each race it got better."
Better maybe for the race workers but not noticeably for the racers. The 2.4 mR fleet had to work their bilge pumps overtime to keep from swamping the low freeboard boats. One boat did fill with water during the regatta, but the skipper was able to sail back to the docks with a safety escort.
The Sonars didn't have it much easier. With several of the paraplegic skippers strapped into seats at the helm position, they couldn't move to the high side and found themselves at times awash upwind and on the downwind jibes.
The overall winners had been determined one day early so the only surprise on the closing day of the racing was the weather. After a week of punishing winds and white-capped waves, the wind and waves moderated to provide a classic fall day on Tampa Bay.
Heiko Kroeger confirmed his dominance in the single-handed 2.4 mR class—bringing to this event a Paralympic gold medal and the 2001 world champion title in the open class for able-bodied sailors. Kroeger, from Keil, Germany, posted one more impressive win to remain undefeated through the nine-race series. As in each race before, Kroeger was out in front alone at the finish, trailed by a pack of four to six contenders battling for position in the overall standings.
Thomas Brown of Northeast Harbor, ME, finished second in Wednesday's lone race but was disqualified for having crossed the starting line a second or two early. The tactical error made no difference in the final standings as Brown had a lock on second place in the world championship regatta.
On the Sonar course, Canadian skipper Brian Mackie, with crew Brian MacDonald and Paul Tingley, elected to sit out the final day with an unbeatable lead after eight races. With the exception of one "over early" start when they were scored OCS (on course side) and disqualified, Mackie's team won six times and finished second once.
"Overall, we made less mistakes than anyone out there," Mackie said. "Ours was by far the best prepared boat."
The windy conditions favored Mackie's crew, which he believed was the heaviest team on the water.
"We sailed faster and higher upwind, and faster and lower downwind," Mackie added. "We did way better than anyone expected...and it was fun."
Olympian Andy Cassell of England, who won the Paralympic gold at Atlanta in 1996, finished second in the closing race to protect a narrow lead over Germany's Jens Kroker for runner-up honors. Cassell's crew included Brian Harding and Edward Suckling.
American skipper Paul Callahan of Providence, RI, had worked his way up the standings to fifth place in the Sonar fleet until a back injury to crew Keith Burhans forced the team to sit out the final four races. Rick Doerr of Clifton, NJ—with crew Tim Angle and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker—moved into seventh overall on the final two days of the six-day regatta and posted the top American finish in the Sonar class.
The unusually windy weather—punishing as it was for the athletes—was still better than what most of the international fleet would have been living with in their homelands.
"It was great to escape from the German winter," Kroeger said at the closing ceremonies, where he was presented with a Rolex watch in addition to the world champion's trophy.
Recognized as the most improved sailor in the 2.4 mR class, Danny McCoy of Toronto, Canada, said, "The wind caught me off guard...it certainly beat me up."
Citing the rapid escalation of the level of the competition, Serge Jorgensen of Sarasota, FL, said, "A few years ago at Lake Lanier (GA), they would not have gone out in these conditions. They all overcame it."
IFDS chairman Ian Harrison praised the land-based and on-the-water organization provided by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, and he cited the unique support from the city of St. Petersburg, which included major dock renovations at the city-owned sailing center—renovations in part funded from handicap parking zone fines.
"Thanks to all the people who parked in the disabled parking spots," Harrison chided.
"The competition level is always getting higher," Jorgensen said about disabled sailing. "Each regatta is harder and more complex than the one before. This regatta is the first international event totally open (without qualifying limitations) so we have multiple teams from a number of countries. It's the first time that countries can use a world championship to introduce new sailors to international competition."
Their ages ranged from early 20s to early 60s. It was a mix of men and women with three women skippers in the Sonar Class. The lone woman skipper registered in the 2.4 mR Class was Lisa Wallace of St. Petersburg. Some were born with disabilities. Others, like Wallace, are adjusting their lives after suffering an accident or disability as adults.
"I was the victim of a drunk driver in 1990," Wallace said. "I'm paralyzed from the waist down. But I got tired of sitting on the dock and getting left behind so I started solo sailing."
She added, "I set little goals each time because I'm still a novice...it's baby steps, getting better each regatta."
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Unfortunately, Wallace's boat failed the mandatory flotation test, and she withdrew from the competition before it began.
The 2.4 mR boats resemble scaled down America's Cup boats but with a crew of only one. Depending on the limitations of the skipper, the boats are controlled by their feet or hands. The three-person Sonars—sailed without spinnakers— have special seats and grab rails to help the sailors move from side to side during the races, but the boats must stay rigged within the Sonar class rules. Given the range of the disabilities among the sailors, a rating system is used to equalize the Sonar teams.
"We rate the sailors from one to seven," said Peter Van Aanholt of The Netherlands, who is the chief international classifier for the International Foundation of Disabled Sailing (IFDS). "The most disabled get a one, the least get a seven. Each team has a maximum of 14 points so we have all disabilities in one boat."
Arend Bet of The Netherlands sailed Optis as a child but had to give up the sport due to an adult illness, which left him a paraplegic at age 40. He started playing wheelchair tennis to maintain his fitness and was a national champion in 2000 before discovering that he could compete as a sailor again.
Bet works in sales for IBM, which sponsored his trip to the world championships. He said, "When I found out about disabled sailing, I quit playing tennis and went back to my old lover...sailing."
IFDS Disabled World Sailing Championships Oct. 24 - 31 on Tampa Bay - SPYC Sonar Class (after 9 races/one throwout) 1. Brian Mackie/Brian MacDonald/Paul Tingley/Canada 24; 2. Andy Cassell/Brian Harding/Edward Suckling/England 31; 3. Jens Kroker/Dietmar Steigel/Peter Reichl/Germany 33; 4. Ken Kelly/Peter Steel/Kirk Westergaard/Canada 39; 5. John Twomey/Seanie McGrath/Paul McCarthy/Ireland 42; 6. Dror Cohen/Benny Vexler/Arnoon Efreati/Israel 46; 7. Rick Doerr/Tim Angle/Maureen McKinnon-Tucker/USA 58; 8. John Ross-Duggan/JP Greignou/Larry Kutno/USA 60; 9. Annette ten Dam/Arend Pet/Marcel van de Vaan/Netherlands 66; 10. Shimon Ben Yakov/Alon Mauri/David Weinred/Israel 71; 11. Paul Callahan/Mike Hagmaier/Keith Burhans/USA 77; 12. Gustaf Fresk/Johan Ahlquist/Tony Haines/Sweden 86; 13. Kerry Gruson/Edward Piper/Mark Evju/USA 102; 14. Mike Strahle/Chris Everson/Victor Leeanza/USA 103; 15. Karen Mitchell/Michael Witkowsky/Nancy Graver/USA 109 2.4 mR Class (after 9 races/one throwout) 1. Heiko Kroeger/Germany 8; 2. Thomas Brown/USA 28; 3. Bjornar Erikstad/Norway 36; 4. Jostein Stordahl/Norway 38; 5. Ruud van Holsteyn/Netherlands 42; 6. Thierry Schmitter/Netherlands 47; 7. Andrew Millband/England 55; 8. John Ruf/USA 56; 9. Danny McCoy/Canada 60; 10. Allan Smith/England 61; 11. Thomas Franklin/USA 78; 12. Claes Hultling/Sweden 83; 13. Roger Cleworth/USA 86; 14. John McRoberts/Canada 107 Day by day notes Day 1 - The championship opened with a northern breeze gusting over 20 knots and short, choppy seas testing the sailors and the sails.
The Israel team skippered by Dror Cohen had their mainsail blow up just after the start of race one but came back to win the second race.
Standing in fifth place after day one, Thomas Brown said, "I haven't been in a boat all summer and I can feel it."
Keith Burhans, who was crewing with Paul Callahan, was less than thrilled about the conditions on the water. He managed a smile, saying, "The sailing was great, but that was probably as high (wind) as we ever need to sail in. Survival conditions are what they are."
Day 2 - After a morning delay waiting for the wind and seas to subside, the championships continued on Tampa Bay. Kroeger of Germany remained undefeated in the 2.4 mR class after four races with Brown moving up to second place.
In the Sonar class, Brian Mackie's Canadian team extended its lead with two first place finishes on a rough and windy race course.
Day 3 - With six races completed, the leaders in the Sonar and 2.4 mR classes moved further ahead of their competitors with three schedules races remaining. Kroeger added two more first-place finishes to an already-perfect record. He leads American Brown by 10 points with Jostein Stordahl of Norway in third place with 19 points.
Mackie's team was disqualified in Sunday's opening race for crossing the starting line early but held onto the overall lead in the Sonar class. The top American skipper, Paul Callahan, dropped to eighth place with another American team, skippered by John Ross-Duggan, in ninth place.
Day 4 - The rich got richer, and the rest of the two fleets battled for runner-up positions. Kroeger displayed why he is king in the 2.4 mR class—both with 2000 Paralympic gold and as the 2001 world champion in the open class for able-bodied racers. He posted two more impressive wins to remain undefeated through eight races.
Brown added a 5-2 record Tuesday and has a lock on second overall for the world championship regatta.
On the Sonar course, Mackie and crew add two more bullets to four earlier first-place finishes. They cannot be beaten going into the final day of sailing, but the battle for second and third overall will be decided among at least four contending teams.
Olympian Andy Cassell of England, who won the Paralympic gold at Atlanta in 1996, has a one-point margin over Germany's Jens Kroker and Canadian Ken Kelly—both teams tied with 30 points—and will be challenged by Ireland's John Twomey another six points back.
Paul Callahan had worked his way up the standings to fifth place in the Sonar fleet until a back injury to crew Keith Burhans forced the team to sit out three races. Rick Doerr of Clifton, NJ—with crew Tim Angle and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker—moved into seventh overall with a 2-3 performance and is the top American team through eight races.
The team skippered by John Robertson of Sunderland, England, withdrew from the championship while holding down second place through six races. Robertson withdrew after it was confirmed that his team exceeded the total rating allowed for a disabled team in the Sonar class. Based on each crewmember's disability rating—ranging from one to seven—a total of 14 points are allowed on each team. Robertson's team was one over the limit after an unexpected rating was issued prior to the start of the regatta.
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