For Sailors with Paralympic Ambitions

7/2/08

Email form Kevin Burnham, who is coaching the US Olympic Team In Quingdao, China:

"Thanks to algae, Olympics truly go green. More than 5,000 square miles of water in Quingdao—including one-third of the Olympic swimming course—are covered in a thick algae that more than 20,000 workers must clean up in the next six weeks.

7/1/08

Nick Scandone and Maureen McKinnonTucker are preparing for the Paralympics in Newport, CA. Check out the july issue of Sailing World and the nice picture of them sailing in Team Paradise's Skud #004, which they are using as  training boat.

6/14/08

Team Ricky Doerr won the U.S. Disabled Championship in Larchmont, NY. The team members, consisting of Ricky Doerr, Tim Angle and Bill Donahue, will be representing the US at the Paralympic Games, later this summer. Team Ricky Doerr is using Team Paradise's Sonar for training and racing while their boat is on location in China. Congratulations to all of you!

6/5/08

Wednesday Night sailing was extra special last night. Only two boats came to start, but it didn't bother me, nor Tamsin Maund or Bill Quesenberry. It gave me the opportunity to focus on them and I'm pleased to say that Tamsin has now passed our beginners course, which entitles her to take a boat out all by herself. We focused on lining up properly for speed testing and sailed towards Virginia Key, while I provided tuning tips. We then sailed around the buoys, refining technics and tactical options. The evening ended with a couple of races before sailing back to port. 

The objective of training abled sailors to become teachers is part of our mission. The need of volunteers to teach and facilitate for the disabled is very important.

6/4/08

Sorry for the infrequent updates, but it is not because of inactivity.

Wednesday night sailing as taken place as scheduled the last couple of weeks.  The level of sailing has improved for the wednesday night crowd. I was just reviewing some video from last week's event and it is starting to look pretty good. Tom Franklin made it out for the first time in our boat. Tom did a Paralympic campaign in 2000, but has not sailed much since. He is "thrilled" to be back and we hope to see a lot more of him. Thanks to all the abled bodied sailors of have used the boats, we are now able to accommodate most  disabled sailors in our 2.4 fleet. We would still need to develop a zip-and-puff system, but we are able to provide a safe product with all systems working.

The Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club, in New Jersey, hosted a Team Paradise fund-raiser during their 50th Annual Tomahawk Regatta, this past weekend. It was the third time that this wonderful group of people set out to help our cause and put on a show. In lack of  a full report (which will be available soon) I have to tell you that it all worked out extremely well. 

We raised some cash during the raffle and  silent auction on saturday night. Great contacts were made and a sponsorship from Rums of Porto Rico was obtained. We have been asked to participate in an even grander scale next year. The early plan is to bring our fleet of boat to the lake and bring our disabled athletes along. Sounds exciting to me, for sure!

5/17/08

A fantastic weekend was topped off by taking a group of teenagers from Bronx, NY, out on Biscayne Bay.  Steven Castro had never sailed before, but this was his opportunity to change that. Team Paradise and staff from CampInteractive cheered on as Steven steered clear of trouble. Coach Kevin Burnham was amazed by his talent saying "he could go far".

The teens were heading back to New York that eveing to attend school in the Bronx on Monday. What a difference a day makes.

Team Paradise were represented at the Laureus Foundation's Welcome Gala on Saturday Night, at the Indian Creek Country Club, hosted by Marcus Allen. It was the Third Annual Celebrity Golf and Tennis Invitational, benefitting CampInteractive, a non-profit organization determined to introduce the creative powers of the outdoors, to young people in the underserved neighborhoods of American cities.  We met some amazing people and many legendary superstars were in attendance. How about Edvin Moses and Fred Stolle, just to mention a couple? We were seated at the Dolphin table with some current NFL stars. It was all as good as it gets. 

5/15/08

The 2.4 stayed in water over night. We put the new sails on and Stu Hebb, Kevin Burnham, Elizabeth Kratzig, Molly Lucas and myself went for a sail. We met up at the Coral Reef Yacht Club for a briefing, then headed over to Shake-A-Leg via our coach boat. It was a lot of fun to sail and for a change I actually got in a boat and raced. EK did really well and so did Stu Hebb. Kevin and I struggled a bit, but we also had moments of brilliance :) Paige worked the cameras and provided good encouragement.

5/14/08

Kevin Burnham, Ian Raphael and myself worked hard on the 2.4's for several days. We changed spreader angles, mast rake and rig tension, so that all boats are evenly matched. They are looking pretty sweet by now. It amazes me how much work goes in to a small boat like the 2.4. Our standard is high and everything needs to be "tip-top".

We had four 2.4's sailing around around a couple of markers during Wednesday night. We are focus on boat handling and the necessary maneuvers required to successfully complete a race course. We finished the evening with a couple of races. Lionel Baugh did the best and his previous experience skippering his J-24 was evident.

5/11

Email from China:

5/11/08

Happy Mothers Day! I learned a long time ago not to schedule any events on Mothers Day, because Mothers Day is an event in itself and only a few would show up. Anyway, we had a great week. Wednesday Night Sailing was great. Peter Rabbino and Carlos Aloma were eager to get out and learn more about sailboat racing. We did a bunch of leeward and windward mark roundings and they both improved as the practice progressed. 

Kevin Burnham brought Elisabeth Kratzig and Molly Lucas out for a Thursday sail. Molly is super talented and did great in her first time out in a 2.4. So did Elisabeth. Kevin's eye for sailboat racing has never been questioned. He picked up on  several differences of the two boats. We worked improving our 2.4 fleet the following day.

David Schroeder made it back out in the Skud18, sailing with Bill Mauk on Saturday. It was great seeing him back out on the water.

5/4/08

Please join us for weekly racing on Biscayne Bay. On Wednesdays we sail out of Shake-A-Leg and on Thursdays the US Sailing Center. We meet up at 4PM for practise and then race between 6-7PM. We are back at the dock by 7.30PM. We designed the schedule to allow you to slip away from work a little early to get in some practice, or if you have to work until five, you can still make the racing!

4/25/08

Team Paradise's volunteer Bill Quesenberry took Tam out for a sail in our 2.4's. Tam is a stroke victim from Connecticut and was visiting Miami with her mother. Magnus gave on-the-water instructions and took pictures of the event. There is nothing like smiling faces!

4/23/08

Team Paradise's wednesday sailing kicked off last night. Tamsin Maund coordinated the event and we all gathered at 4PM. We had all of our five 2.4's in the water and with a waiting list of people eager to give it a try, we traded skippers on the water in order to give everyone a chance. Peter, Mark, Jason, Gary, Tamsin, Henrik and myself had a really good time and we managed to run four short races before returning to port at 7.30PM. Dinner and a debrief followed at Scotty's Landing. Let's find out just how quickly a week will pass.

4/19/08

The 2008 Star Worlds ended on Friday with the sixth and final race. The Polish "wunderkind" Mateusz Kusznierewicz and his crew Dominik Zycki won the champion with the low score of 14 points. As predicted, the winner had to have the ability to recover from bad positions whenever caught on the wrong side of the course in any race. The Winners climbed back from being deep in in the last two races to score a 4 and 5.

Team Paradise was involved as one of two charity partners and co-hosted the mid-week awards ceremony. Our message was explained to the 208 participants and al the coaches and supporters.

One disabled skipper participated. Lars Grael, who lost his leg in a boating accident years ago, finished in 25th place which is an awesome display of courage and ambition. 

Congratulations to al the winners and a special thanks to Carol Stout Ewing and Conny Bischoff for all the help. 

3/27/08

We are pleased to announce that Team Paradise have moved from "application pending" to final approval of the 501 (c) (3) tax designation by the IRS. The application was submitted in August of last year and is now a done deal! It seem like a long time and it is. We never doubted our legitimacy and followed professional advice. Viciana & Shafer, P.A.  were instrumental in the filing and should have a lot of credit for the accomplishment. Everyone involved with Team Paradise have a good reason to be happy about this critical milestone in our relatively short existence. 

3/12/08

3/3/08

The 2008 Disabled-Open Midwinter Regatta took place in St Pete over the weekend. Team Paradise brought two Skuds and one Sonar to the event. The "hottest" fleet was the Sonar class with eleven boats on the line. Our Norwegian friends, Stordahl/Kristiansen/Wang-Hansen, edged out  Team Kroker from Germany and the US Paralympic representatives, Doerr/Angle/ Donahue, who finished in third place. Nick Scandone/ Maureen McKinnon-Tucker continue their winning ways in the Skud 18 class. The latest European team combination, Amy Kelehan /John Twomey, from Ireland, sailing in Team Paradise Skud 18 #001 made good improvement throughout the weekend, but had to settle for a ninth place finish. The 2.4mR class was won by Canadian, Bruce Millar. Marco Dahlberg (FIN) was second and Paul Tingley (CAN) third. 

See "More links" below for the complete final results.

2/18/08

Both Team Paradise's Skud 18's were picked up from the Shake-A-Leg Miami campus and moved to St. Petersburg, FL, for the Open Regatta, taking place at the end of the month. The Irish team of Amy Kelehan/John Tumi will be racing in hull, #1 while hull #4 will be sailed by Nick Scandone/Maureen Tucker-McKinnon.

2/15/08

The Fundraiser at the Alexander Hotel on Miami Beach was a very pleasant affair. The synergy between Team Paradise and the Mega Yacht world is easy to recognize. The Mega Yachts represent the top of the line in their category and the same could be said of Team Paradise's, which focus on sailors with Paralympic ambitions.

We raised some money and made several great contacts. I was very pleased with he attendance, especially with the support from the sailing community. The raffle awards from Jewels and Little Switzerland were awesome.

Special hanks to them, Ashmead & White and Moore & Company. 

2/11/08

2/7/08

Check out our Media Files. The most recent one is with NBC 6, "Spirit of South Florida". It provides  a clear message of what we do.

2/1/08

Team Paradise boats won in both the Sonar and Skud18 classes in the 2008 Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, which ended with the medal round for Stars, Ynglings and Laser Radials, on Saturday. The Paralympic Classes ended on Friday, on a course located much closer to shore. I'm not sure why the Race Committee would go that far south in the bay, especially since the wind came up sooner, closer to shore. Isn't spectating the reason why they started the medal rounds? 

1/30/08

Two days into the 2008 Miami Rolex OCR and the racing could not be any more exciting. Team Paradise is providing boats, free of charge, to participants from Holland, France, Germany, Finland and the U.S. Nick Scandone and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker in the Skud18, team Jens Kroker in the Sonar are both winning in their respective classes.

01/21/08

The latest addition to our fleet of boats arrived to Miami last week. It is a Skud18, hull number 001.

David Schroeder made his debute in it, racing in the Caviglia Blue Water Regatta, this past weekend. 

12/30/07

The Junior Orange Bowl Regatta finished on Sunday afternoon with the awards ceremony at the Coral Reef Yacht Club, in Miami. Grace Howie was awarded the  "Magnus Liljedahl Sportsmanship Award".  I'm thrilled, not just by having a trophy named after me, but also for being part of the entire process. Local Optimist sailor, Ian Raphael, nominated fellow "green fleet" sailor Grace Howie, stating  "she waved me by, despite being on the yielded port tack". It is an act of sportsmanship for sure and not only that, it could be a smart tactical move from time to time. The decision to give her the award was not a very difficult one, even though we had numerous nominations. Young Grace (9) throw her arms up in jubilation, as I announce her name. She posed with the trophy, smiling from ear to ear. I had to call her back to the podium to give her some important advice; "don't let them by every time!"

Maybe she will come sailing with us at Team Paradise sometime? 

12/27/07. It was 

We are in the middle of the Holiday Season, perfect time to reflect on the past and plan for the new year ahead. I have been sketching on a Shake-A-Leg Miami's Paralympic Team, which would be operated by Team Paradise. We would name one or two teams in each of the three Paralympic classes and then provide them with all the support necessary to become contenders at the 2012 Games in England. In todays world it is near impossible for a disabled athlete to singlehandedly put together the effort required to go all-the-way. We would raise the funds needed in a combined effort, the athletes, Shake-A-Leg Miami and Team Paradise.  Any ideas?

 

12/23/07

This is a very special time of the year. Everything seems so final and it is. Time is ticking and no one can stop it. What wasn't accomplished in 2007 will have to wait until next year. Maybe that is a good thing? Sometimes time works for you and other times against you. Sometimes you want it to pass as quickly as possible while at other times you wish time would stop. Usually it kind of works in the reverse order. When you want time to "fly", it takes forever and when you  really like to enjoy a moment, it seems to pass quicker than usual. Why is that? Anyway, check out the greeting card and learn how it came about in the Photo Album. Ho Ho Ho!

12/16/07

Thanks to John Muir and all the other volunteers for making it possible for Team Paradise to participate in the Winterfest Parade in Ft. Lauderdale, last night. Coachboats.com provided the tow for our Sonar, skippered by Team Paradise board member, Kerry Gruson. Some of us where watching form the fabulous home of Karen and Dave Humble. Check out our photo album for more pictures. Earlier in the day, while the finishing touches were put on our "float", Mike Grimm made his debut in the 2.4mR, sparring against Paul Tingley. Fowey Rocks indicated 24 knots of breeze and I had my concern, but was really pleased when both returned to port about 4 hours later, Mike "Grin" smiling ear-to-ear.

12/11/07

The Paralympic Bronze and Silver medallist from the Sydney and Athens games visited Shake-A-Leg Miami for an Etchells regatta this past weekend. On Monday and Tuesday he trained with Team Paradise in the 2.4mR, sailing against Paralympic hopeful, Canadian Paul Tingley. Tuesday started out with speed training, then a bunch of short racing with practice starts. The day ended as it begun, with more straight lining up the bay. Tom, who was campaigning a Sonar during the recent Paralympic Trials, hasn't lost much at all, if any. He looked very fluent around the course. Paul did better as the day progressed. We made small changes to his setup, which proved very fast.

12/9/07

Miami is full of sailors these days. No wonder, we have the best place for winter sailing in the world. I know that it is a big statement, but we can offer some of the nicest stuff, when the rest of the northern hemisphere seems freezing. Forty some Star boats participated in the Commodores Cup and about 80 Etchells raced in the Jaguar Cup series.  I went 2.4mR sailing with Paul Tingley, who is here preparing for his Paralympic trials. It was my first time out sparring in one of our new 2.4. The breeze was blowing nicely out off the NE, perfect conditions for most boats. It was nice to be able to get back on the water and go sailing. We lined up and did some speed work. I was please to stay pretty even with Paul, even if he won most line-ups. The boat  I was in needs more work, but it seemed fast. My goal as a coach during this type of training is not so much trying to win as it is trying to make the other skipper to work harder and become better. We will have many of the worlds top Olympic sailors here this winter and I know that many of them will come and help me at Team Paradise. The opportunity for a disabled sailor to race some of these names is very limited.

12/1/07

The favorite boat for most kids to sail and race is the Optimist Dinghy. The class is huge and it is sailed in every country where one would race boats. I remember growing up on the Swedish west coast, in the early sixties, my cousin and his dad build hull number 12. Coral Reef Yacht Club, in Miami FL, has  one of the top Junior Sailing programs in the US and probably the world. It is led by Marek Valasek, a team of professionals and volunteers. I was out observing their practice on Saturday afternoon, and saw some great boat handling and coach work. The "Alien Invasion" start configurations seem really worth while. A second starting line is set to leeward of the regular line and this is where the top kids start. It causes the top teams to deal with sailing through the fleet, which happens after a bad start. Great practice. Later in race I saw some kids that didn't take advantage of what they had learned. They tried sailing around the fleet, when behind. This is very risky and should only be done when sure, or desperate. The focus factor always seem to be a challenge for kids (and for some of us adults as well). When looking at the pictures taken at the rate of five frames per second, it is notabel how much their heads are  still "in the boat" instead of "out of the boat". Their course was pretty close to the shore with plenty of wind shifts and velocity.

12/02/07

The 2007 world champion Skud18 arrived home last week. The boat has been campaigned by the successful team of Karen Mitchell and JP Creignou, who won the ISDF's worlds in Rochester, NY this year. Karen has been undergoing surgery since the Paralympic Trials and all is reportedly going well for her. We hope to have them back out sailing soon. Bill Mauk and I surveyed the boat and equipment in addition to giving it a serious scrubbing and rinse, inside out. It all looked very good. Karen and JP did a good job in running the program. The plan is to get David Schroeder out sailing in it while we are looking to purchase a second boat. The Rolex Miami Olympic classes regatta is coming up  in January of next year and there will be several boats to practice against. 

11/23/07

11/24/07