Greece'd

The International Federation of Disabled Sailors (IFDS) held it's 2003 World Championships in Athens Greece. Just as all you able bodided sailors had a big event earlier this year. I guess it is sort of a way to introduce the sailors to then new Olympic / Paralympic venue. Only one US team went to Europe to compete. Rick Doerr, Tim Angle, Maureen McKinnon-tucker, and alternate Richard Hughes comprise Team Odyessey. Just to let you guys know Rick is a Parapalegic. Tim has only one arm, Maurenne is almost a Parapalegic (MS I think). Richard is a below knee amputee. The next time any of you Anarchists think you are having a bad race just imagine trying it while no being able to stand or sheet with one are. I dare you to try it for one race. Here is Rick's report of the 2003 IFDS Worlds.

Team Odyeseey completed the last leg of its European training by competing in the IFDS World Championships Sept 4-12 in Athens. This served 2 fold as the last opportunity for the team to achieve high level training with some world class competition leading up to the US Paralympic selection trials to be held in St. Petersburg, FL. Nov. 5-14, and to provide exposure to the Olympic sailing venue as a test event should the teams be qualified enough to return for next years Paralympics'.

Our goals were modest approaching the regatta, with expectations to emulate last years 4th place finish and improve on the boat speed that had help tie the team for 1st place on the US disabled sailing team. The trip started out auspiciously though when the gray ghost which had so faithfully supported the team over the past 3 years, suddenly expired in Germany. Gene Hinkle, the backbone of our campaign, was now stuck with nearly 2 days of driving left, and no vehicle. With a little quick thinking on his part, and thanks to the many contributions of our supporters, gene was able to rent a van in Germany to get him to the Ancona ferry in Italy, then fortunately coerce our northern breatherin Danny McCoy from Canada to help transport the boat on to the ferry, where the unequalled friendship of the Irish competitors, Paul McCarthy and his crew helped transport our boat from the coast at Patras to the sailing center in Piraeus. Wow, I hope no one has to experience that in a lifetime.

Rick, his wife and Gene Hinkel (cool boats behind)

Once the boat arrived, the crew, along with US disabled sailing team coach Betsy Alison and team physician dr. Anne Allen, tore into the boat to get it rigged, wet sanded, and prepped for sailing. With all of us dealing with a little jet lag, we took the rest of the day off and prepared ourselves for the first practice day. With temperatures in the triple digits, we all struggled with dehydration and heat exhaustion. Our sails looked good, lines right, boat speed fair, we used the first day on the water to familiarize ourselves with the surrounding waters and climate. Crystal clear Aegean Sea and the paramount Acropolis looking over your vista, hard to feel bad about the recent calamity with that kind of setting. On day 3 our coach and support staff, peter Wilson arrived, followed shortly by USDST coach and team leader Serge Jorgensen, ready with fresh ideas and a training schedule. We were off and pacing with the former world champions Canada and Germany. We all used each other to continually fine-tune our sailing and boat handling with some simple drills. We were now in racing mode and could feel the anticipation building. Now with only measurement to take care of the next 2 days, the practice race was in our sights. Saturday afternoon brought the practice race, which was all that. Not sure what to make of it other than an opportunity to examine the wind conditions and direction. We were sure to make mental notes and last minute adjustments. That evening brought the opening ceremonies at the prestigious yacht club of Greece, with the king's dragon parked in the front lot. The flags were hoisted of the participating countries the party commenced with the backdrop of the Saronic gulf, the competitors-lined it for the food and bar lines, before our curfews expired. The only reliable place to find food and grog was at the Italian team table, where they had their way with the waitpersons. Must be a Mediterranean thing.

Team Odyessey #674 in the middle

Day 1, Sunday, Sept 7 started out with very light wind. Although we had a good start, we needed to sail thru the middle of the racecourse to finally get to the favored side with pressure. A mediocre first beat allowed us opportunity to make up ground on the run, getting back into the top 10. With the correct choice of the gate, we learned from our mistakes on the first beat to make up a few more places to eventually finish at #8. Race 2 saw the breeze build for the day, and followed the same patterns it had during the practice race. Taking advantage of this, we stayed in phase with the leaders and finished a respectable 6th, to place us 7th overall.

Day 2 found a repeat of the previous day with light breeze. The edges were the place to be, and during the first run, while in touch with the lead pack, we were yellow flagged for a possible rule violation. Not sure exactly which, we immediately scrambled into 720 mode, and came up in the back of the pack...ouch. No time to discuss, we pulled together to finish 14th, and found out it was a sonar class rule we were accused of, something I know quite a bit about. Needless to say, it rattled our performance for the day, and the best we could hope for was to appeal for redress. Although redress was denied based on the fact we had accepted the penalty, after an on water demonstration with the jury, and technical committee member Gene Hinkle, we were able to demonstrate to the jury the proper interpretation of the class rule, and were granted redress by the committee. Nevertheless, we now in 8th place with average points on the RDG.

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Day 3 started out the same with light, inconsistent breeze, leading to an abandonment of the first race. However, conditions would change by the afternoon racing. Although race#7 started in the dreaded 5-7 knot range, by race end it was apparent we would be shifting gears and changing our blocking. By the start of race#8, the breeze had come on to 15-18 knots, building thru out the race. Our set-up was right on for these conditions and typically we thrive on these conditions. The lead changed around quite a bit, but we hung tough with the other good heavy air sailors, eventual regatta champion NED, the 2 ISR teams who performed superbly in the breeze, and the former world champ GER. we finished with a solid 10-4 for the day which kept us in the hunt in 7th place, ready to move with the breeze coming on.

Day 4. Well here is were the harbinger of bad luck to come from our pre- race disaster finally appeared. The breeze had made it, with the first race average of ~18 knots and building. So much so that it forced retirements across the course and they brought the

2.4 surfin mad

2.4mR fleet in. we had great speed and boat handling off the line, and hit the favored side with NED. Problem was, that when I reached for the backstay, the line just kept coming. Not a good sign, and when I looked up our masthead fly; I noticed the crane had snapped off the mast. As we neared the weather mark, realizing turning off the breeze would risk total failure of the rig, we notified the mark boat we were retiring from racing and reached home. At the dock, we now realized that we would not have a replacement in time for the next race, and with only one race left on day 5, our regatta was over. Too bad, because so much racing on the last days in our strong suite. At least at this point, we were able to initiate the packing/loading process and get a jump on the fleet. We finished up in 14th place, a testament to our strong overall beginning. The event wound up with the closing ceremonies at the Yacht Club of Greece, and although we were not in the medals this year, we were proud to have participated with such great fellow competitors, and a great World Championship. The winners deserved their accolades, for this one did not come easy, they worked thru such varied conditions, and showed how consistency pays. We now look forward to our national championship, or more precisely the US Paralympic selection trials, and hope we return next year to benefit from the lessons we learned this year. For results click

Rick Doerr