Hosted by Shake-A-Leg, June 4-7.
By Magnus Liljedahl
The “No Barriers Festival” was a unique experience for Team Paradise. It is not often that we get to showcase our Paralympic program in front of 400 people with physical challenges, all taking place at our home dock.
The message of the festival is a universal one to which everyone can relate. Through the work of these festivals, hundreds of people receive the most innovative, cutting-edge ideas, techniques and technologies, which enable people with challenges to shatter their own personal barriers and live more active and adventurous lives. No fireworks were needed because thunder and lightning highlighted the event. but it didn’t make our job of showcasing Paralympic sailing all that easy. Our preparations were like an equation with too many unknowns. How could we prepare for it all?
Our goal for the week was to spread the word about Paralympic sailing and make people aware of Team Paradise and its mission. We also hoped to find one or more potential sailors who would like to get serious about our passion. Having fun was also a priority, but we knew that if all executed well, the fun part would happen by itself. We had also decided that we wouldn't turn down any donations, not now, not ever.
The Shake-A-Leg grounds transformed into a Festival Scene in just a few days. The 80’ carbon mast was erected as a permanent flagpole, just in time for the show. Boats and equipment not used for the week were moved to a nearby City of Miami parking lot. A diving pool was put in place and tent structures built in anticipation of our tropical conditions. Inside the hangar building were displays ranging from state-of-the-art wheel-chairs, walking aids, mountain bikes for the paraplegics and much more. Team Paradise’s select location remained on top of the boat ramp, just outside of the fenced-in festival grounds.
Participants could sign-up online and also on Thursday afternoon at the venue. We had little knowledge of what the interest in our program would be. Would we be “inundated” with prospects, or would we have to lead participants to the source? It was the type of event where “rolling with the punches type attitude” was a good thing. We aimed to control what was possible and then deal with every other situation as best as we could. Similar to a regatta series, where if you are down in one race, you try very hard to better yourself, making the most of what otherwise could be very miserable.
Team Paradise’s participation in the festival was made possible thanks to our volunteers, who really put up an effort. Taking unknown disabled and blind individuals out sailboat racing requires qualified help, but given the quality of our coaches and everyone involved, I was 100% confidant that each boat would return safely to the dock, no matter what happened out there in the Bay.
Karen Mitchell steered her boat most of the time and so did Kerry Gruson. They are both strong sailors, but needed quality AB help from Alejandro Montoya and Will Rothfuss. Both guys are “running up the beach” type individuals. They are like veterans except they never went to war.
The program called for two sailing sessions per day with a regatta on Sunday. We had four Sonars racing around the buoys on Friday and Saturday. Two sessions were cancelled because of lightning and thunder, but all in all, we got lucky. The boats had different adaptive equipment so we would have to match the disability to the boats.
Sunday’s regatta was a hit, not only among the participants, but also for the hundred-some spectators who came to watch from one of Shake’s several large catamarans. Melinda Smith was running the races with help from Gloria Smith and Jack King. Their timing was perfect, getting three races off before severe weather pulled in over the racecourse. Nice job!
First time skipper and paraplegic veteran Darrel Kubacz and local amputee sailor Richard Hughes won the event with some onboard coaching from Elizabeth Kratzig. Even though Darrel lives in Arizona, he is keen to start sailing with Team Paradise on a regular basis. To give you an idea, he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, despite being a T4 paraplegic. Richard Hughes used to sail both Sonar and 2.4, but stopped about 10-years ago. Thanks to Team Paradise, he is now back.
Sally Barkow was coaching the blind team. Juan Carlos Gill, who is in a wheel-chair and also vision impaired, skippered their Sonar. Other blind crew members were Chris Sheppy and Scott Duncan. Scott is currently circumnavigating the globe with his blind girlfriend, using a talking GPS as their main source of navigation. How about that? Ed Benitez led the team as the only other seeing person onboard.
Our friends from St. Petersburg, FL brought Skud #004 back to Miami in time for the festival. Cat Bostian and Phil Smithes are great people and avid Team Paradise supporters. Phil is a champion sailor who also coached the Canadian Skud team to a podium finish at the 2008 Paralympics. Cat made sure our base camp was attended while we were on the water. She also doubled as photographer. They made the Skud available for Karen Mitchell to try it out with Richard Hughes in crew position. Karen is searching for a partner to team up with for the 2012 Paralympics and this was a great opportunity for them. Phil sailed with them on Saturday and Sally Barkow on Sunday, both offering their knowledge and coaching expertise.
Other volunteers that made a difference were Chis Kurzweg who helped in preparations leading up to the festival. Irv Rosenfeld had a blast sailing the Sonar. We look forward to his further involvement, supporting our cause. Bill Quesenberry did great as an AB on the Green Team. Big thanks to Heri Aloma for his unselfish attitude and great support. I know that some names are missing that ought not to be, but it is what it is. We all did our best in trying to get the job done, and I venture to say, we did! We did have some good fun and yes, some monetary contributions where made, we get to live another day....