Newport-Ensenada
Is More Than A Race To Team Challenged America
San Diego, California (April 27,
2004) -- While the 450-plus racing sailboats and
their crews focused on winning the recent Newport
Beach to Ensenada, Mexico, International Yacht
Race (April 23 - 25, 2004), the sailors with and
without disabilities aboard B'Quest, the Team
CHALLENGED AMERICA forty-foot racing sailboat,
had more on its mind than just racing to Ensenada.
Their objective was to introduce offshore racing
to a new crew of sailors with disabilities and,
upon arriving in Ensenada, be role models for
the kids of the Baja California Junior Sailing
Association.
 |
| Photo
of B'Quest Crew and Junior Olympic Class Sailors
from the Baja California Sailing Association
in Ensenada, Mexico at the awards ceremony
for the 2004 Tommy Bahama Newport to Ensenada
Yacht Race.
Junior
Sailors were brought to meet the crew by
their coaches Dr. Manuel Velez and Dr. Gerardo
de la Mora ( who was a member of the Challenged
America and crew). Photo Courtesy www.challengedamerica.org
|
"Considering
many of the crew were new to offshore racing,
and thanks to the accurate weather prediction
by Rick Shema, 'The Weather Guy' (www.weatherguy.com),
we did great in this year's Newport-Ensenada Race,"
said Jim Halverson, Team CHALLENGED AMERICA crewmember
from San Juan Capistrano, California. "I
just had my leg amputated a little over a year
ago, and am excited to be able to race again.
Sailing is my love and passion, and CHALLENGED
AMERICA has made it possible for me and so many
others. The Newport-Ensenada Yacht Race is surely
a spectacular event, with the hundreds of racing
sailboat. And being able to do more than just
sail to Ensenada, but to give back to the community,
and especially to the kids in Mexico, made this
race very special."
Team
CHALLENGED AMERICA raced in their donated and
adapted Tripp 40 sailboat, B'Quest, with a crew
of nine. Surprising quite a few in the PHRF C
Division, the male and female crew of sailors
having amputation, spinal cord injury, hearing
impairment, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, cancer,
and other significant disabilities. finished with
a respectable time in the middle of their division.
.
"We
were far from last, and pretty close to picking
up some silver," Halverson said. "With
us sailing for the first time as a crew, we had
some minor sailing foul-ups that cost us time,
and our mainsail definitely has seen better days.
But It was an experience of a lifetime. And being
warmly welcomed and accepted by the other sailors
as equal is truly what the sailing fellowship
is all about. I'm emotional over the entire experience."
After
the Newport to Ensenada Race, Team CHALLENGED
AMERICA remained in Ensenada until Sunday, where
they met with kids and their coaches, Dr. Manuel
Valdez and Dr. Gerardo de la Moro (who was a crew
member of Team CHALLENGED AMERICA), of the Baja
California Junior Sailing Association in Ensenada,
as an outreach of the CHALLENGED AMERICA program.
CHALLENGED
AMERICA was founded in the late 1970's by disabled
veterans to promote and advance the sport of sailing
as a rehabilitation activity for kids and adults
with disabilities. A San Diego-based charity,
CHALLENGED AMERICA provides free learn-to-sail
and advanced sailing and educational programs
year-round, attracting hundreds from around the
world, each year. For additional information,
contact Captain Josh Ross, CHALLENGED AMERICA,
2240 Shelter Island Drive, Suite 110, San Diego,
California, 92106, (619) 523-9318, Sailor@ChallengedAmerica.org,
or visit www.ChallengedAmerica.org.
