Team Sailing for Life Wins the IFDS World Championships and Qualifies the USA for a Spot in the 2008 Paralympic Games - September 7-15, 2007
JP's & Karen’s goal for this regatta was to sail conservative with the thought in mind that one does not need to win races to win a regatta. Sailing consistently well and placing in the top three is what wins. Sailors and past world champions from around the world were represented in the SKUD 18. Competition was tough.
Since there was no wind on the first day of racing, we sat on the water in postponement waiting for wind to blow at least 5 knots. Winds between 2 to 4 knots with much chop made racing impossible. Looking at the bright side of things, at least all eighteen teams were tied for first with zero points. Our second day, the wind picked up to 5 to 10 knots out of the WNW. We started our day and our first race of the regatta winning with a bullet (first place). We placed third in both the second and third race. Goal accomplished - we placed in the top three to take the lead.
Day three brought winds of 8 to 12 knots with chop. We finished with a second, a first and a seventh. In our seventh place finish, the wind went right, so we went right but we sailed into more chop and wind driven current and missed the lift on the left side. With two drops in this regatta, our seven point finish would be our first drop. We continued to maintain our lead even counting our seven point finish.
Day four we again sailed consistently placing second in all three races. We lead the first race of the day, but chose to cover USA 05 and the SWE 13 since they were only several points behind us. In covering these two teams, we chose not to cover USA 22 since they were further behind in points. USA 22 tacked away at the last leeward mark rounding to the left side of the course even through the wind had been going right all day. They luckily sailed in more velocity and finished just ahead of us. We again were able to maintain our regatta lead.
In day five, our last day, we knew we had to beat USA 22 in at least one race to beat them. We sailed the first race with that goal in mind. We placed second, eight points ahead of them. Goal accomplished. Now to win the regatta, we needed to beat SWE 13 in the next race. We covered them throughout the race not concerning ourselves how we finished, as long as we beat them. We did and still finished with a third place. WOW, we now knew that we had won the IFDS World Championship! With one more race to go, it did not matter how we did since this race would be our second drop. Knowing that second, third and fourth place teams were very close in points, we sailed the race with the goal of keeping clear and not interfere with the fight going on between who would take second, third and fourth place.
Team Sailing for Life won with 21 points. Second, third, and fourth place teams tied with 28 points, with USA 22 and SWE 13 taking second and third place in the tie breaker. The fifth place team finished with 58 points. Click here to see results.
Represented in the three Paralympic Classes were teams from Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, and the United States of America.
Thank you, Al Towle, for all your help in making this victory possible. Al has towed our SKUD from Florida to Newport, to Rochester and now back to Newport, RI, drove us around, helped rig the boat, manned the support boat. Thank you to our coaches, Betsy Allison, US Disabled Sailing Team Coach, Jeff Sullivan, and Lee Lcyda, also US Sailing Coaches. Thank you to all the volunteers from Rochester Yacht Club who worked endlessly making this event run smoothly. Thank you to all my sponsors and friends who have helped us. This is your victory too! We could not do it without you! And I am also thankful that God has granted me my health to allow me to compete.
Thank you for your continued support! We love you all!