Sailing away. (water sports for the disabled).

Dreaming of sailing the high seas? Here are a few possibilities to get you on your way.

* If you're headed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, check out Right Reasons!, a wheelchair-accessible boat for sportfishing, snorkeling, or scuba diving. Right Reasons/, a 46-foot (52 feet overall) Hattares, is fully equipped to handle people with all types of disabilities.

The boat's special features include a ramp access to a widened transom and entry doors, safety rails throughout, a hydroelectric wheelchair hoist from the salon to master bathroom, 100% full-flow oxygen, and an electric blood-pressure monitor.

Fishing equipment includes electric reels, spring rod retrieves, and harnesses and vests for all sizes and disabilities. A certified master snorkeling and scuba diving instructor is experienced with swimmers who have physical challenges.

Contact: Roger and Jeanette Cumin, (907) 345-0656 (USA) / 011-52-114-35760 (Mexico) / www.allaboutcabo .com/wheelchairfishing.htm.

* Eighteen teams representing 16 countries will converge on Newport, R.I., August 6-12, to compete in the Hartford 1998 World Disabled Sailing Championship. The event, organized on behalf of the International Sailing Federation and International Foundation of Disabled Sailors, will qualify seven countries for berths at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, where the sport will make its full-medal debut.

Co-hosted by Shake-A-Leg Newport and the New York Yacht Club (NYYC), the Hartford Worlds will be sailed in 23-foot Sonar keelboats, with a rating system applied to equalize physical abilities among three-person teams.

Skippering entries for the U.S. are 1998 U.S. Disabled Sailing Team members Paul Callahan (Newport, R.I.) and John Ross-Duggan (Newport Beach, Calif.). Callahan won the right to represent the U.S. by winning the U.S. Trials held in St. Petersburg, Fla., in May. As runner-up at the trials, Ross-Duggan, a bronze medalist at the 1996 Paralympic sailing exhibition, earned the second berth allowed the host country. Keith Burhans (Rochester, N.Y.) and Richard Hughes (Philadelphia) will crew for Callahan, while Dean Cleall (Sarasota, Fla.) and Corky Aucerman (Newport Beach, Calif.) will back up Ross-Duggan.

The U.S. expects tough competition from two World Disabled Sailing Champions: England's Kevin Curtis and Norway's Ernst Thorpe. Canada's 1996 Paralympic silver medalist, Davis Cook, will also pose a threat.

Contact: Shake-A-Leg Newport, 200 Harrison Avenue, Newport, R.I. 02840. (401) 849-8898 / 848-9072 / shake@shakealeg.org / www .sailing.org/98disabledworlds.

Source Citation
"Sailing away." Paraplegia News 52.8 (1998): 57+. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. .

Gale Document Number:A21049458

Disclaimer:This information is not a tool for self-diagnosis or a substitute for professional care.