| KEY WEST, FL. USA-(25-1-2005) Disabled sailing got the spotlight on
Biscayne Bay today as the two classes chosen for the 2008 Paralympics—the
Sonar and the 2.4 Metre—completed a second day of competition at US
SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR and as Shake-A-Leg Miami, one of the regatta’s
hosts, announced the launching of TeamPARADISE. The Rolex Miami OCR,
which has returned to Miami for 16 consecutive years, is devoted to
preparing disabled and able-bodied sailors for elite-level competition and
is the largest Olympic and Paralympic classes regatta in the country.
Over 320 sailors, representing 26 countries, are competing through Friday.
Before today’s single race in the Sonar class, the British crew that
finished sixth at the Paralympics in Athens--John Robertson, Steve Thomas
and Hannah Stodel--had to return to the dock for a mast repair. They
accomplished it in time to make a delayed start and maintained their fleet
lead from yesterday after winning. The American team of David Schroeder,
Keith Burhans and Bradley Johnson (Miami, Fla./Rochester, N.Y./ Hollywood,
Fla.), currently in second after finishing second to the Brits today,
welcomed the chance to sail against their closest competition. “They’ve
worked together five years and are well-oiled,” said Burhans. “All of us
others are just putting together our teams.” Burhans, a Paralympian from
2000 who calls tactics on the boat, explained that he and Schroeder have
sailed only two other times together and Johnson, who won a bronze medal
for the USA in 2004 as crew in the Sonar, was a new teammate for them
both. “All things considered,” said Burhans, “we’re highly pleased with
the level of our sailing.”
Disabled sailors are given a classification rating—from 1 to 7, most to
least disabled--based on their stability, strength and functionality in
the boat. A Sonar team can share no more than 14 points in total.
Disabled sailors everywhere got a boost when Shake-A-Leg Miami (SALM)
announced this morning its launching of TeamPARADISE and its plan to
utilize the talents of acclaimed Olympic medallists and world champions to
create an advanced sailboat-racing program dedicated to elite disabled and
blind sailors from around the globe. The program, which will be
headquartered from the SALM facility near the US Sailing Center in Coconut
Grove, gets its lead energy from local Magnus Liljedahl, who brought home
a gold medal for the USA from the 2000 Olympic Star event.
According to Liljedahl: “Some of the really promising disabled sailors
don’t get the opportunity for input from able-bodied sailors, and their
learning curve is flat. World-class sailors such as Freddy Loof (Sweden),
Augie Diaz and Kevin Burnham (both Miami) have committed to spending time
with the program and acting as ambassadors globally.”
In the 2.4 Metre class, Sweden’s Stellan Berlin is leading, with Canada’s
Allan Leibel in second.
Other Action
All but two of the 11 Rolex Miami OCR classes were deprived of at least
one of their scheduled races today due to a dying afternoon breeze and the
49er class did not race at all. Across the board, there were no lead
changes from yesterday.
USA’s 2004 Olympic Silver Medallists John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New
Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas) posted two first-place finishes today giving
them three victories in four races so far. “The wind was shifty and
puffy, but we sailed in the ocean instead of in Biscayne Bay, so it was
really great—no motor boat traffic and a ground swell instead of flat
water.” Multiple world champion and 2004 Olympians Roland Gabler with crew
Gunnar Strukmann (DEN) are Lovell and Ogletree’s closest competition,
trailing by six points.
Turning in a 1-4 today were the 2004 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World
champions Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe,
Mich.) and Deborah Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) in Ynglings. “It’s being
patient, confident and in the right spot for the setup after the start
that is important in this fleet,” said Howe.
Other class leaders: Andrew Horton and Brad Nichol (Newport, R.I./Hanover,
N.H.) in Stars; Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) in Laser Radials; Chris
Cook (CAN) in Finn; Morgan Larson/Pete Spaulding (Capitola, Calif./Miami
Beach, Fla.) in 49ers; Brad Funk (Belleair Bluffs, Florida) in Lasers;
Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler (Shelter Island, N.Y./Matawan, N.J.) in
470 women’s; Sven Coster/Kalle Coster (NED).
In addition to Rolex, sponsors for the Rolex Miami OCR are Nautica, Sperry
Top-Sider, Team McLube and Zodiac. Regatta Headquarters for the 2005 Rolex
Miami OCR are at the US Sailing Center, with classes hosted by the US
Sailing Center; Coral Reef, Key Biscayne and Miami Yacht Clubs; the
Coconut Grove Sailing Club; and Shake-A-Leg-Miami.
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