|
Karen and Bob Jones win the NACC in the
double handed Freedom fleet by 17 points
-August 1-3, 2009.
This is Karen’s sixth
win in this event; she also won in
2003-2007.
Chicago’s North
American Challenge Cup brought all types of
wind and weather conditions to the Lake
Michigan. Saturday, with 15-20 knot winds
out of the south, southwest with gusts in
the 30s, Bob and Karen took two bullets
(firsts) in the morning races. They lead
both races in the afternoon, however, with
the main sheet accidentally wrapping around
Karen and the tiller during a gybe, and a
confusing shortened course finish line, they
lost their lead to take a third in both
races finishing the day with a four point
lead.
Click Here to
Read More
Karen and Richard Hughes Team Up - June 2009
Karen and Richard combine their efforts
in their 2012 Paralympic quest for gold in
the SKUD 18 fleet. With both team
members' racing experience, love and passion
for sailing, and drive to succeed, they are
deemed to be a winning team.
Karen Makes the 2009 US Sailing Team
AlphaGraphics
With the start of the new quad, and
sailors checking out possible new team
members, Karen and Bob Jones teamed up to
sail in the Rolex Miami Olympic Class
Regatta. This was the first time both
Karen and Bob had sailed together and
stepped foot in the SKUD since the
Paralympic Trails. With both sailors
being a little rusty and their using a
chartered water logged boat, they stilled
managed to finish in fourth place.
Team SailingforLife Places 3rd Overall for
2008 BBYRA J 24/Sonar Fleet
Karen's Surgery A Success
On November 20, 2007, Karen bit the
bullet and underwent major surgery to
reconstruct her left ureter. After many
years of trying all conservative methods
consisting of many surgical stent
placements, there were no options left
except going under the knife. Since
the distal end of the ureter had no viable
tissue, there was a 2 cm blockage which
resulted in kidney infections with the left
kidney enlarging to the size of a football.
These extremely painful and deadly infection
occurred as frequently as every one to two
months. Blood toxicity usually occurs
since the kidney is responsible for
cleansing the blood. Karen
needed a good six months to recover before
getting back in and on the water. The
GREAT NEWS - Karen is now infection free.
What a relief. It is amazing how Karen
hung in the last several years of her 2008
Paralympic Sailing Campaign between
infections and many hospital stays.
Now she can concentrate on living, sailing
and having fun!
Karen Nominated for Rolex Yacht Woman's of
the Year for 2007.
Winner Takes All in the Paralympic Trials -
Team Sailing for Life Takes Third - October 3-14, 2007
These last few months
have been an adventure indeed. Three
surgical procedures in June and July,
without a resolution to my blocked ureter,
left me wondering if I would even sail in
the Independence Cup/North American
Challenge Cup and the Clagett Memorial
Regatta in August, the IFDS Disabled World
Championships in September and the
Paralympic Sailing Trials in October.
Determined to finish what I started, I
delayed having major surgery so that I could
compete in these events. God sustained me
through them.
After recently winning
the Independence Cup for the fifth
consecutive year, taking the gold by seven
points in the IFDS Worlds, qualifying the
USA for a spot at the Paralympic Games and
tying for first in the Clagett, Team Sailing
for Life now congratulates Nick Scandone
and Maureen McKinnen-Tucker in their
awesome performance at the Paralympic
Trials. We beat them in our two previous
regattas, but they came back with a
vengeance and kicked our butts at the
trials! They were totally on their game.
Nick is an awesome sailor with many
collegiate and world wins on his resume.
He’s been racing all his life and it
definitely showed at the trials.
Click Here to
Read More.
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.
To read more
click here.
To see
pictures click here.
Event
Website.
Team Sailing for Life Ties for First in the Clagett
Jr. Memorial Regatta - August 28-30, 2007
The C. Thomas Clagett
Jr. Memorial Regatta has been an excellent
opportunity for JP & Karen to train in
Newport, the same venue as the Paralympic
Trials in October. Unfortunately, Team
Sailing for Life was not able to sail in the
last two regattas with the other USA teams,
so we had some catching up to do. Watching
the other teams bring out their new sails
for this regatta, JP and I decided to save
our new sails for the Worlds and the
Trials. We sailed using the boats original
very used sails.
Click here to
read more.
Five Time Winner of US Independence
Cup/North American Challenge Cup - August
3-6, 2007
This year Karen, sailing with JP Creignou,
won her fifth consecutive US National
Championship. Chicago provided the
sailors with a wide range of wind conditions
with light winds and chop on Saturday,
breezy and shifty winds on Sunday, and light
winds with less chop on Monday. Represented
were sailors from the three Paralympic
classes: the three person sonar, the one
person 2.4mR, and the two person SKUD 18.
The two person SKUD 18 teams sailed in the
Freedom 20 for this event. To see
Karen's interview by Art Norman of NBC5
Click here. To see results and
daily updates
click here. For pictures
click here.
Thank you to all the event sponsors who made
this great regatta possible. For
further updates and sponsor information
please
click here.
Open/Disabled Midwinter's - March 23-25,
2007
After three exciting days of racing on
Tampa bay, Team Sailing for Life placed
first in the SKUD 18 fleet. This great event was hosted by
St. Petersburg Yacht Club who again did a
fantastic job.
After an encouraging, but short of our
expectations, third place finish at the
Miami OCR, Team Sailing for Life knew they
had much work to be done. Work on Team
Paradise’s SKUD 18, which is still taking on
buckets of water despite the many patching
and sealing attempts, and work on our boat
handling, starts and sail trim.
To read more,
click here.
Miami Olympic Class Regatta - January
21-26, 2007
The 2007 Rolex Miami
OCR welcomed 855 sailors from 49 countries
to complete for medals in 11 Olympic classes
and 3 Paralympic Classes. Conditions varied
throughout the week. Racing began with blue
skies and a steady southeasterly breeze.
Karen Mitchell and her new team member, JP
Creignou, sailing the teamPARADISE’s SKUD,
began their week with a challenge on their
hands. Within the starting sequence of the
first race, the shackle on their main
outhaul broke, rending proper sail trim
impossible. Racing under these conditions,
they finished in sixth place and assumed
that this would be their one throw out.
Replacing the shackle in between races, they
were able to finish second in the next race.
Day two brought light
air with a three hour postponement ashore.
Relief came when the afternoon sea breeze
kicked in. Team Sailing for Life sailed
well placing first in the third race and
second in the fourth. However, within the
five minute sequence on the fifth race, they
hooked the anchor line of the pin boat on
their bulb keel. Since the race committee
pushed them off, they retired from the race
for receiving outside help. Now their throw
out had to be used for this race instead.
Day three again brought light and shifty
winds. Sailors who were able to sail to the
favored side and stay in the pressure were
the ones who came out ahead. Needing to
exonerate themselves, Karen and JP lost
several places to finish with a third in
race seven and a second in race eight. They
finished the day tied for second place with
David Cook and Brenda Hopkin from Canada.
Day four was about
testing one’s survivor skills. A frontal
passage passed through the race course
bringing a cold, rainy northwesterly wind in
the mid twenties with gust in the upper
twenties. Starting the day out with a
challenge herself, Karen awoke to a kidney
infection. Not a way to start a cold, wet
and windy day. In race nine, a sudden gust
caused Team Sailing for Life and two other
SKUD’s to broach. By the time they gained
control over their boat, the rest of the
fleet sailed away. This resulted in a fifth
place. At the start of race ten, Karen and
JP were unable to keep clear of a leeward
boat who also failed to avoid contact with
them. Karen and JP were not notified that
they were being protested, so they did not
counter protest Sweden for hitting them.
Lesson learned. Do not assume since two
boats foul each other in the same incident
and no notification of protest is indicated
that one should not do their penalty and
counter protest the other boat for not
avoiding contact. This incident resulted in
Karen and JP being disqualified, thus
dropped them down to fourth place. Hard
luck has made first and second place now
beyond their reach.
Day five, the final day
of racing, with third place being only two
points away, Team Sailing for Life was
determined to cover Gustaf Fresk and Annika
Lindgren of Sweden. They only needed three
points to take third place. They beat them
in race eleven moving up one point. In race
twelve, Karen and JP lead the fleet most of
the race, but sailed on the unflavored side
to cover Sweden who took a flyer out to the
right. Goal accomplished, they beat Sweden
by two points, but as a result of covering
them they only placed third in race twelve.
Karen and JP, leading the fleet the entire
race, finished the MOCR with a first in race
thirteen. What a great way to end a
regatta.
Since Karen and JP had
never sailed together, they used the MOCR as
a training regatta. The Team had many
adaptations to adjust to: learning the boat
as JP is new to the SKUD, a new gimbling
seat and new steering system which was
installed just the day before racing began.
With a break down, retiring after finishing
and DSQ, the Team did well placing third.
Congratulations to Scott Whitman and Julia
Dorsett for their first place and David Cook
and Brenda Hopkin for second place
finishes. For final results see
http://www.rolexmiamiocr.org/results/index.htm.
Americas - December 1-3, 2006 - St.
Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg Yacht Club did a great job
hosting this years Americas. The week began
with a clinic led by 49er sailor, Chris Rast.
Chris did a yeoman's job leading racing
drills, teaching proper sail trim, solving
equipment issues, and even taught us how to
splice line. The regatta brought light
conditions with the best winds on Friday
with a south westerly breeze of 8-12 knots.
In the first race, Team Sailing for Life,
sailing TeamPARADISE'S SKUD 18, was late to
the start resulting in a fourth place.
The next two races Karen and Mike paced with
the Canadian Teams, beating McRoberts and
finishing close behind Cook, taking two
seconds. Day two began with a three
hour postponement. In the first race
of the day, Team Sailing for Life was over
early and had to return to the start line to
restart. This put them in last place.
They sailed fast and worked their way back
up the fleet to take a third just a boat
length behind McRoberts. In the next
race, competition was again tight against
the Canadians, when at the leeward mark,
Team Sailing for Life's spinnaker pole
failed to retract. Twenty boat
lengthens below the mark, the pole retracted
and they were able to douse their spinnaker.
They began their climb back up the fleet
when they became attached to crab pot.
Another several minutes passed before they
could work their way off. Now, way
behind the fleet, the team sailed fast to
overtake two boats and still place third.
Day three brought no wind with no racing.
The Canadians showed up well prepared
with canting seats and quality training and
time on the water. Having canting
seating is an absolute must. This
allows the boat to sail flatter, allowing
for better sail trim and enabling the
sailors to perform at an optimal level.
It made a big difference in performance, and
this is reflected in the scores.
For results please
click here.
Team Sailing for Life extends a special
thank you to JP Creignou for all his
assistance on and off the water.
US Pre-Trials - October 12-15, 2006 -
Newport, RI
The pre-trials for Team
Sailing for Life turned out to be quite a
trial. An unfortunate incident
happened several weeks prior to the regatta
where a volunteer taking the boat for a test
drive in Biscayne Bay accidentally hit a
channel maker. The spinnaker and
entire rigged was damaged and needed to be
replaced. Parts had to be ordered from
Singapore with little time to ship them and
clear customs. The new rig arrived the
night before the racing began. The team
rushed to put their SKUD back together.
Without time to work the bugs out, they
attempted to race in Friday's two races, but
a break down brought them sailing back to
the dock resulting in a Did Not Finish and a
Did Not Compete. Not a good way to
start a regatta.
All the bugs were still not
worked out for Saturday's heavy winds.
Unknown to the team, the spinnaker halyard
that came with the new rig was too short.
On the downwind leg of the first race, the
team could not retrieve the pole and douse
the spinnaker. They needed to obtain outside
help to avoid drifting with the current into
the bridge, thus resulting in another Did
Not Finish. DNF and DNC are scored as
last place plus one point. They were
in last place with these high scores. With
their spinnaker now being unusable, they
decided to continue racing any ways.
And miraculously, without flying the
spinnaker, won the next two races.
Sunday brought lighter and
shifty winds. Armed with a longer
spinnaker halyard, they sailed smart and
played the wind shifts which paid off big.
Team Sailing for Life won both races to
place second over all - missing first place
by only one point. What a come back.
Every race they sailed, they won, even with
their boat issues not completely resolved.
Dennis Connor's International Yacht Club
Challenge - August 22-26, 2006 - Manhattan
Sailing Club
Captain Ivan Grekov, from Team Bulgaria,
invited Karen to share the helm with himself
to compete against 14 different countries in
the Dennis Connor International Yacht Club
Challenge. The event was sailed in
Manhattan Sailing Club's fleet of J 24's out
the of the North Cove located next to Wall
Street and the business capital of
America. For additional information
see
Manhattan
Yacht Club's Website. For
pictures
click here.
Team Sailing for Life Wins the Clagett Jr.
Memorial Regatta & Ranks #1 on the US
Disabled Sailing Team in the SKUD 18 -
August 19-20, 2006
Mike and Karen sailed their first SKUD 18
regatta and won 7 out of 9 races to be named
the #1 ranked US Disabled Sailing Team for
the SKUD 18 fleet. The week began with
five days of training with US Disabled
Sailing's coach, Betsy Allison.
For more information, please visit the
Clagett Jr.
Memorial Website,
and the
US Sailing
Press Release.
For pictures
click here.
NBC News with Roger O'Neil - August 18, 2006
View video at
msnbc.
Four Time Winner of US Independence
Cup/North American Challenge Cup - August
5-7, 2006
This year Karen, sailing with Mike Grimm,
won her fourth consecutive US National
Championship. Kerry Gruson, her usual
partner in this event, chose to sail in
England in Cowes Race Week instead.
Competition was tight, after five races
going into the last day, Karen and Mike were
tied with Mike Jaffe and Dan Daniher with
Tim Flynn and Paul Choquette only one point
behind. In race one at the start,
Jaffe luffed Karen over early, thus she
needed to return to the line to restart.
This let Flynn get out ahead and thus place
second overall. The rest of the fleet
went right, but Karen chose to go left.
This decision paid off and she gained on the
fleet coming into the windward mark in
second place. Flynn taking a first.
Winning the start and staying out ahead,
Karen won the second six leg race, with Mike
Strahle taking a second. For daily
commentary and full results please see the
Press Release
and the
US
Independence Cup Home Page.
Also see
US Sailing
Press Release.
Karen Mitchell named US Sailing's Sailor of
the Week for June 14-20, 2006
For
Press Information please see
US Sailing
Website.
Making US Sailing History by Taking
Possession of the New Two Person Paralympic
Equipment
The first six SKUD 18s arrived from
Singapore on May 31 in Newport, RI.
Team Sailing for Life along with US Disabled
Sailing Team Coach, Betsy Alison, coach
Magnus Liljedahl, of teamPARADISE, and
helper, Chris Cosner, spent Wednesday and
Thursday unloading the container and rigging
the boats. Australian SKUD 18
designer, Julian Bethwaite, was on hand to
help. Bethwaite Design is also the designer
of the 29er and the Olympic 49er. In
between rain drops and with smiles a mile
wide, Mike and I took our maiden voyage on
Friday, June 2. A nice land breeze
kicked in late afternoon making our sailing
shear excitement. The fog set in on
Saturday keeping the sea breeze at sea; thus
we were able to experience the SKUD in very
light to nonexistent air. Sunday
brought good wind and a great training
session with Betsy. We participated in
several drills and practice races
demonstrating great boat speed.
Our SKUD was delivered home by Gene Hinkle
towed on top his truck. We are
currently learning our boat in Miami, and
plan to head back north to Newport in July
to begin competing in a series of US
Disabled Sailing Team trials for 2006 and
2007.
2006 Disabled/Open Midwinter's -
March 23-26, 2006
Karen and her partner,
Mike Grimm, displayed their talent last
weekend at the 2006 Disabled/Open Midwinter
Regatta in St. Petersburg, FL. Team Sailing
for Life in the two person class placed
second overall and first among the disabled
teams. Karen is determined to reach her
goal to be the first disabled female skipper
to represent the USA in sailing in the
Paralympic Games and win the gold medal.
For the sixth time, Karen was awarded the
Top Disabled Female Skipper award.
St. Petersburg Yacht
Club did a yeoman’s job hosting the event.
The regatta consisted of the three
Paralympic class boats: the three person
Sonar, the two person Martin 16 (substituted
for the SKUD 18 until the boats arrive in
May), and the one person 2.4mR. Conditions
were rough. A cold front brought cold winds
of 15-22 knots out of the NW for the first
two days of racing. Sunday brought slightly
lighter and shifter winds out of the NNE.
In November of 2005, the Equipment
Evaluation Committee chose the SKUD 18 as
their equipment of choice for the new two
person event. The new SKUD 18 is a
lead-assisted skiff with similar lines to
the Olympic 49er, with a tube-launched
asymmetrical spinnaker and a modified 29er
rig. The two person disabled crew criteria
consists of at least one woman and one
individual with a severe disability.
The Canadian sailors
used this event as their Canadian Disabled
Sailing Team trials to determine which two
person teams are on their National Teams.
Five of the six teams that traveled to St.
Petersburg competed for the two slots on
their National Team.
Four of the five USA
teams used this regatta as a training event
for future qualifying events. The US
Disabled Sailing Team qualifying event for
2006 will be held in Newport, RI. in August
to determine which teams will fill the three
two-person team slots. The US Disabled
Sailing Team qualifying events for 2007 will
consist of three mandatory events: the pre
trials in October in Newport, the Americas
in December in St. Petersburg, and the Miami
Olympic Class Regatta in January. The
Paralympic Trials, to determine which team
will represent the USA in the Paralympic
Games in 2008 in Beijing, China, will be
held in October 2007 in Newport, RI.
Results
Shake-A-Leg Miami Midwinter Regatta
- March 3-6, 2006
They did it again, Team Sailing for Life won
the Shake-A-Leg Miami Midwinter Regatta.
Local skipper Karen Mitchell of Deerfield
Beach, crew Jan Bartleson, and Bill
Quesenberry of Coral Gables won the event
with 11 points. Rhode Islands team members
Charles Rosenfield with crew Joe and Chris
Del Vecchio, placed second with 13 points.
Miami’s David Schroeder, Bryan Tabler and
Bill Mauk placed third with 25 points.
Karen’s team has won this event three times.
The Shake A Leg Miami
Midwinter Regatta was sailed on the
beautiful Biscayne Bay March 4-6, 2006 in
the Freedom Independence Fleet.
Magnus Liljedahl,
the 2000 Star Class Olympic Gold Medalist
and chairperson of teamPARADISE, kick
started the regatta with an informative
clinic. On the water drills consisted of
practice starts, mark roundings and sail
trim.
It was a great event.
The organizing authority, the RC, the
sponsor, the volunteers and all the
competitors did a great job making this a
wonderful and fun regatta.
The C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Paralympic Development
Clinic/Regatta Newport, Rhode Island August 18-21, 2005
Clinic Day 1 began with an orientation
and an on land coaching session. Betsy Alison and Jen French prepped us for the
event. Betsy ran on the water drills in the afternoon. The evening ended with a barbeque. Thursday evening, I took
ill, and needed to miss Friday’s clinic and Saturday’s races. However,
my competent crew, Kevin Wixom, helmed Clear Ahead and Jim Semmens and Rosa Tysor controlled the jib and the main. Thanks to the great job Kevin, Jim and Rosa did on Saturday, we were still in the hunt. We entered the races on Sunday in third place. Charles Rosenfield
with crew Joe and Chris Del Vecchio on Team Fresh Start were unchallenged placing first in all five races. Clear Ahead received a respectable 3, 4, 4, 2, and 3. Annette
Bourbonniere and her crew on Team Picture Perfect placed 2, 3, 3, 4, and 2, placing second for the day.
Day 2 of racing, I rejoined my
Team, Clear Ahead, with the goal to give Team Fresh Start a run for their money. We
started our day with a first place and proceeded to place 2, 2, 1, and 2 with a total of 8 points. Team Fresh Start placed 3, 1, 1, 2, and 4 totaling 11 points. We
accomplished our goal; however, with their five first places on Saturday, Team Fresh Start remained in the lead to win the
regatta. View video and commentary of Day 2 racing at
http://www.t2p.tv/guide/paralympic05.php. For final results and pictures
check out
http://www.ussailing.net/clagett/.
Thank you to everyone who made
this event special. Thank you, Betsy Alison and Larry Gadsby, for helping me
when I took ill.
US Independence Cup & North American
Challenge Cup Chicago, July 30 - August 1, 2005
Kerry and Karen did it again and enter the history books of US Sailing by becoming the first team to win for three consecutive
years. And win they did, by a 12 point lead. They finished with six points with Bob Jones and Ken Kelly in second
with 18 points, and Tim Flynn and Paul Choquette in third, also with 18 points. Nick Scandone won the 2.4mR class for
the second time with 7 points, Rick Doerr in second with 15 points and Paul Tingley in third also with 15 points.
Thank you to all our generous sponsors for another wonderful event: American
Airlines, Cook-Illinois Corp, Chicago Park District/Westrec Marinas, Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing, Rolex Watch USA, Hyatt Regency Chicago, USG, West Marine, Quizno's, Gavia Yachts,
Helix Camera & Video, Carol's Cookies, Snapple, Goose Island Boat Yard, and Bacino's Pizza. Thank you Betsy for a great clinic, Jim Armstrong for a great social mixer, Race Committee for great courses,
the Judges for keeping order, the able bodied sailors and volunteers. We could not have done it without you!
Click here for Sun-Sentinel Article, Sailing Anarchy Article, U.S. Independence Cup 2005 Commentary, Daily Reports, Press Release and US IC Information.
Toronto Lands’ End NOOD Regatta • IFDS Equipment Evaluation Event • June
23 – 27, 2005
On April 18, the International Paralympic Committee announced a new two-person keelboat sailing event
will be added to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. This new event will compliment the current one-person (2.4mR Class)
and three-person (Sonar Class) Paralympic events and, for men and women with a Paralympics dream, the two-person event has
opened a door for new teams to train and excel.
The Martin 16 Class has been developing the two-person sailing format over the past three seasons, gaining
vital experience that will support our submission for the Martin 16 as the IFDS “equipment” choice for this new
Paralympic event in the 2008 and 2012 Games. In cooperation with the IFDS Equipment Evaluation Commission,
the Martin 16 Class Association hosted an evaluation of the Martin 16 sloop. For the first time, Royal
Canadian Yacht Club and National Yacht Club — two of Canada’s finest clubs — hosted a Martin 16
fleet in the Toronto NOOD Regatta, as part of North America’s premier One Design circuit. A fleet of
twleve Martin 16s, optimized for two-person sailing, carried teams representing nine countries. After four days of sailing
in a full range of wind and seas conditions, the teams evluated the Martin 16 and provided feedback to IFDS Equipment
Evaluation Commission Members John Twomey (IRL) and Jamie Dunross (AUS), declaring the Martin 16 "thumbs-up" on all
accounts.
As the next step, the IFDS Equipment Evaluation Commission will evaluate more two-person contenders at
the IFDS World Championship on September 5 - 6 in Sonderborg Denmark. The IFDS will announce their decision
at the ISAF AGM in Singapore, November 2005.
The Martin 16 Class Assocation is proud to contribute to the IFDS Equipment Evaluation process and would
welcome your participation and support of our Martin 16 Paralympic Bid Project.
Goombay Regatta May 28, 2005
Organized by Coconut Grove Sailing Club, the pursuit race starts each boat at different times according to their
PHRF rating with the slower boats starting first and the faster boats starting last. The idea is for all the boats to
finish at the same time. It never works, showing how flawed our PHRF rating system really is. The bigger faster
boats pass us littler slower boats. The 10 mile race consisted of a windward, leeward, windward, reach and windward
leg to the finish. SailingForLife passed the boat that started several minutes prior in the first windward leg and led
the race through the 3rd leg. In the 4th reach leg, the PHRF 1 and 2 boats, with their big water lines and sail
areas, whaled over us. SailForLife still finished with a respectable place, placing first in the sonar fleet, finishing
approx. 15 minutes prior to Blue Bayou and Team Paradase. Thank you to my wonderful crew, Mike Block and Vince.
C-Gull Cup May 7, 2005A great time was had by all at the 35th Annual C-Gull Cup.
The one design regatta consisted of fleets of Sonars, Lightings, Flying Scotts and Etchells. We sailed three races
in winds of 14 to 18 knots. Regatta requirements: a woman must helm. To win the perpetual C-Gull Cup, a
team must consist of all woman. Thank you crew - you guys are great! Thank you race committee - you guys did a
great job.
Miami to Key Largo Race April 23, 2005
Imagine a start line with approximately 200 boats fighting to win the start. A signal boat divided the middle of the line with monohauls starting on the east side
and multihauls starting on the west side. The 35 mile race began with a SW breeze
of 5 to 6 knots. SailingForLife, with Bill Quesenberry, Jyrki Auvinen and myself,
was off to an excellent start winning the boat end. The wind died just after
passing through the Featherbed channel. Two hours later, as we entered the Cutter
Bank Channel, the wind freshened to 20 knots. Since our motor was not on the
mount, we had to tack through the narrow channel. With every channel there after,
we also had to tack, losing ground to all the boats which motored by. Regatta
rules allowed for motoring through the channels. We finished just North of Jewfish
Creek with an elapsed time of 9:16:08 and a corrected time of 7:31:08 to win our fleet.
Imagine what we could have done if we could have motored along in the channels. Rick Hall of St.Clair placed
second with Kerry Gruson of Blew Bayou placing third.
Sunday, Jyrki & Erika Auvinen and Ken joined me for the trip back. Forecasts predicted that the winds would blow 20 knots out of the NW. We were prepared for a full day of beating. The winds in Barnes
Sound never reached beyond 15 knots. Just north of Card Sound Bridge, we were becalmed for a short
while, and the winds continued to die and freshen throughout the day. Our arrival
to Biscayne Bay brought us a stunning sunset and full moonlight sail home. What a wonderful weekend. Thank you everyone for making it
such a great time and event!
2nd Annual Charlotte Harbor Leukemia Cup Regatta April 8-10, 2005
Mike Grimm and I joined 18 boats in the Small Boat Fleet to show our support by sailing to fight Leukemia. The
fleet consisted of the six Martin 16s, two Sunfish, one Force 5, one Prindle 18, six Precision 15s and one Pt Jude. We
began and ended Saturday with a bullet and with a fourth and second place putting us in first place. On Sunday, the
winds were light and fluky. In the last race, pin end was favored and all logic dictated to go left - a persistant
left shift and favorable current, however, those who started at the boat end and went right ended up ahead. Sunday
brought us a third and eight place. We finished with a respectable third overall. Dennis Peck finished first with
Rick Pantall taking a second. Thank you everyone for making this a wonderful and fun regatta! Disabled/Open Midwinter Regatta & the Martin 16 North American Championship March 31-April
3, 05
My
team, Mike Grimm, and I sailed the event in the Martin 16 turbo sailboat. The Martin 16 is a growing class and is on the verge of becoming Paralympic equipment.
For more information on the Martin 16 click here.
Tough
competition it was. Light winds with chop and a right persistent shift began
the regatta. Unfortunately, Mike and I went left.
The winds freshened in the second race. Upon gybing, I found the main
sheet wrapped around my neck. YIKES! Not
what I had planned in the least. Thank God this did not happen to me in a heavy
boat like the sonar. I easily was able to head up into the wind and release the
sheet from around my neck. In my endeavor to do such, the spinnaker halyard wrapped
around the boom causing us a delay in dowsing the spinnaker, thus we dropped from second place around the leeward mark to
ninth place. Luckily we overtook a few boats and ended with a respectable sixth
– considering our recent dilemmas. The wind continued to build, and Mike
and I geared up – we finished the last race with a second place. Saturday
races were cancelled due to excessive winds with one gust clocked at 45 knots.
Sunday
proved to be a better day. The winds were still blowing, but with less force. We finished second in the first race. Upon
having a great start in the second race, our jib halyard broke loose allowing the jib to come flying into the cockpit. With no way to reach our halyard, we were unable to finish the race. Thanks to Betsy Alison’s help, we were able to retrieve our halyard in time for the third race. We finished the regatta with another second place behind the unbeatable sail maker,
Ian Pinnel, and boat designer, Steve Alvey. Leading us by one point in the disabled
and open divisions was Gustaf Fresk and Borje Palmquist. Gustaf is a multiple
world champion and the duo represented Sweden at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.
Lesson
learned – arrive at the boat one hour earlier, even if day light saving time begins that morning, and go over it thoroughly
to prevent mishaps such as this. With our performance the last day, we may have
been dropping our 6th place instead of our DNF. We were pleased with
our overall performance and see much potential as a team to win the gold! Thank
you Mike Grimm for being such a great team! You did a great job!!! Thank
you to everyone who made this event such a success.
Coral Cup March 19-20, 2005
Goombay won the Gold fleet and Team SailingForLife won the silver
fleet. The Gold fleet consisted of women crew and skipper. In the silver fleet, a woman must helm. My good
friend, Rebecca Maurer, flew down from New Year to escape the cold and enjoy a great weekend on Biscayne Bay. Becca
and I have sailed together in the J-22 Worlds, the Rolex International Keelboat Championships and the 2004 Columbus Day Regatta.
On Saturday, Mike Block, Tamsin Maund and her sister from England, Samara Partor, joined us. On Sunday, due to a last
minute crew cancellation, Mike, Becca and myself handled the jobs of a crew of four amongst ourselves with just a few hairy
moments. Thank you everyone for another great Coral Cup. For pictures,
click here.
Shake A Leg Miami - Midwinter Regatta - March
3-6,2005
As reported by Magnus. For full report click here.
Miami sailors Karen Mitchell and Janice Bartleson dominated the final day of racing on Biscayne
Bay, winning all three races, in a competitive fleet of Freedom 20s. Karen and Janet (her vision impaired crew member) prevailed in the gold fleet with three equally impressive victories.
Karen has spent more hours on the water than any of her competition and it showed. She has a great feel for the boat and sailed
tactically near perfect. Janet's calm provided her good support and their win was a team effort.
Miami Olympic Class Regatta January 24-28, 2005
Key West Premiere Race Week January 17-21, 2005
Karen On TV - 12/20, 12/22, 12/27, 12/29 --Show #4--Sailing for Life - Cable TAP Series, "Let's Go Sailing" 10 a.m. and 6
p.m. Monday and Wednesday. The Cable-TAP Channel is broadcast via live network feed on the internet at http://www.cabletap.com/livefeed.htm
10 a.m. and 6 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday. Watch the entire series!
Team Three Gimps Wins First Place Overall PHRF 4 Fall Series & First Place Overall for
2004
Team Three Gimps Wins First Place Overall in PHRF 4 Spring Series
The BBYRA Spring series consisted of seven races, with one race each month from January through July. Team Three
Gimps won the series with a total of 7 points, Edward Asmus of Leprechaun, a J 22 placed second with a total of 12 points,
and Richard Hall of St. Clair, placed third with a total of 20 points.
Thank you to my wonderful crew Magnus Lijedahl, Bill Quesenberry, Tamsin Maund, Juan Villalba, Marlene Niemeier, Ilene
Schnall, Meredith Sweeney and Philip Fleming. I could not have done it without you. You guys are great!
IC/NACC Champions Retain Their Title
On August 7-9, 2004, they did it again - the Girls Remain the Champs! Light winds with much chop and a right wind
shift made for a challenging first day for Karen and Kerry. They placed fourth, third and second, while watching their
fellow Miamians take two firsts. On the second day, the girls were back to their usual performance by winning the pin
end favored starts and leading the fleet around the course. Boat handing difficulties at the leeward mark with
a tactical error cost them first in the fourth race - they took second, not too bad. In the fifth race, they lead the
race to take a first. In race six, they had another fantastic start to shoot out in first place and have a repeat performance,
when the jib boom broke lose from its fitting almost hitting Kerry in the head. "NO", they proclaimed,
"We cannot afford this mishap." This breakdown rendered them unable to finish the race. The jury granted
the team redress, however, day one's performance came back to bite them again with points from all five races being averaged
together to determine their score in race six.
On the final day, teams were divided into the gold and silver fleets. Karen and Kerry were now in second place
in the gold just behind Allen Fiske and Joe Cock, also from ShakeALeg Miami. Even in the heavy winds, they again
won the starts and lead the fleet to take a first in both the seventh and eight races. One more race to go...Yikes,
unaware that the RC changed the starting sequence to a rolling start off the 2.4 meter's start, and just getting their main
hosted from replacing a batten that worked its way out, they were late to the start and now in last place. "That's okay,"
said skipper Karen, "this gives us a chance to work our way back up in the fleet." This they did as they finished third
leading them to a winning victory. Thank you Brian, Lorraine and Ken for sailing with us as our able bodied third these
last three days.
2004 Challenger Tall Ship Series
Karen sailed on the Tenacious from June 6 through the 18th from Miami to Charleston,
SC. The first race started on Monday, June 7, at 18:00 with four tall ships competing including Mexico's Cuauhtemoc,
Poland's Pogoria, the UK's Tenacious and Grand Nellie. Lucky Day II from Key Biscayne Yacht Club provided the committe
boat. More to come!
TENACIOUS was built and constructed by
the Jubilee Sailing Trust at their own Jubilee Yard. She was built by a team of professional shipwrights and volunteers of
mixed ability bringing the JST ethos of integration ashore. She is the largest wooden tall ship of her kind to be built in
the UK in the last 100 years and her Maiden Voyage was 1 September 2000. Since then she has taken over 2,500 people
to sea, of these over 1,000 have been physically disabled.
Named after
Britain's most famous disabled sailor, the LORD NELSON epitomises the true spirit and ambition of the Jubilee Sailing Trust.
This remarkable ship has proven so successful a second purpose-built tall ship, TENACIOUS has been built by the JST in Southampton.
The aim of
bringing together as a team, both physically disabled and able-bodied people, was achieved in the building of the new ship
and the crewing of the LORD NELSON. Given a common aim, the JST has demonstrated that many of the problems of disability can
be overcome.
The J-22 Worlds Team
Skipper:
KAREN MITCHELL – from Deerfield Beach,
FL, has been sailing for ten years. She sails Sonars, Martin 16’s single
and double-handed, Freedom Independence 20’s, 2.4mR, and J 22’s. Her
goal is to be the first women skipper to represent the USA in the paralympics. She
is the first and only women to win the Mobility Cup single-handed in the Martin 16 by 11 points, winner of the North American
Challenge Cup/Independence Cup, three time winner of the CRAB Cup in Annapolis, two time winner of the Shake A Leg Miami Midwinter
Regatta, and she recently placed fourth in the IFDS Two Person Worlds. Karen
is a three-time winner of the Gruson/Milam Trophy-Sailing Performance Award for Best Outstanding Female Skipper. Karen is also the first disabled female skipper to sail in the 2003 Rolex International Woman’s Keelboat
Championship.
Crew:
REBECCA MAURER, from Henderson Harbor, NY, grew
up sailing and racing Lightning’s on Lake Ontario. She also races on J29’s
and J24’s. On Lightning’s, she is most comfortable working the foredeck;
on the J 29 she does mostly pit, even though she has done every position. She
has two children and also enjoys skiing.
MARY JORDAN, from Neenah, Wisconsin, has owned
and helmed a J24 for eleven years and has crewed in every position in North American events and recently
at the 2003 J24 World's in Medemblik, Holland. She has also crewed
on Mumm 30's including two World Championships in Miami and Sardinia, Italy, and has raced her Laser locally
for the last 20 years. She has raced offshore, and trained for two years for an around the world race, the "New
World Challenge" (cancelled due to sponsorship issues). Her sailing education
ranges from classes toward her Ocean Yacht master license with the Royal Yachting Association, J-World courses as
a beginner and with J24 World race team members, as well as all of the North Sails U Courses.
ANNE MARIE SHEWFELT,
from Toronto Canada, is rather fond of Annapolis. In J22's she Skippered the last two Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championships, and the 2001 Santa
Maria Cup in which she won the "Gay Lyn Memorial Trophy" for highest placed first time skipper to the event. She
helmed in the '03 J35 North Americans, and skippered many J24 events including Canadian's, North
American's, and she won the "Old Boat Trophy" at the J24 European's in '01 with her Irish Women's team. Also in J24's
she skippered the '99 Rolex Women's and crewed in '97. In '00 she crewed in the Women's Match Racing Worlds in Sonars,
and as crew her team won the '96 Women's North American Lightning Championships. In her "off" time she is a Finance Manager, volunteer
Ski Patroller, and involved with her church. Her future plans include J22 racing, and volunteering with Disabled
sailing in Toronto.
The first-ever IFDS TWO-PERSON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, held at
SPYC March 29 – April 3, brought the top twenty-eight sailors together from seven countries. This inaugural event, sailed in the spinnaker-equipped Martin 16 sloop, is a key step in the development
of a new two-person sailing discipline for the 2008 Paralympic games in Biejing China.
Competition was fierce bringing forth not only sailors who have medalled in previous Paralympic Games, but also those
who will represent their countries this year in Athens, Greece in the 2004 Paralympics.
Day one began with a three-hour postponement. As the sea breeze filled in, the fleet was able to sail their scheduled races. The team Double Trouble, Karen Mitchell and Michael Grimm, spent the first day adjusting to their fuller
newly chartered Quantum sails. No wind on Monday prohibited practice time on
the water. The team placed eighth and fifth.
Day two brought a good northern shifty breeze and a timely start. Double
Trouble sailed well tacking with every shift and placing second and fourth. Day
three brought strong and shifty winds with gusts strong enough to cause even the most experienced sailors to struggle with
their spinnakers. At fifteen seconds to the start in race six, the shackle that
attaches the mainsheet to the bridle on the traveler broke, leaving the main untrimmable.
Miraculously, Karen was able to temporarily rig it allowing the team to start within the allowable time period. This left Double Trouble far behind the fleet.
Karen and Mike were determined to sail fast and smart in the heavy wind and catch the fleet. By the third leg, they climbed up to sixth place. They were
confident with their tremendous boat speed that they could climb all the way to the front; unfortunately for them, the race
committee shortened the course sending the sailors in for the day. They finished
fourth and sixth. Sail trim was challenging for the team on day four, as they
struggled to get the sail just right. When sailing back to the sailing center
after racing, Karen noticed that the mainsail was three inches shy from the top of the mast.
A valuable lesson in sail trim was reiterated – look at the most basic adjustments first when the sail does not
look right. Elementary. They still managed to place seventh and fourth even with
their main shy from the top. Going into the last day, mathematically the top
four positions were secured. No team in these positions could move up or down. With a strong current on the start line, most of the fleet was OCS resulting in a
general recall. Double Trouble led most of the race in second place. However, they lost two places finishing fourth after needing to exonerate themselves with a 720-penalty
turn, only to find out that they were OCS.
For Double Trouble finishing
fourth in a world competition against this caliber of athletes is quite an accomplishment. Watching the outstanding performance
of Gustaf Fresk and Aron Andersson from Stocksund Sweden, Karen is determined with coaching and training to sail as well as
they did. Kudos to the Gustaf and Aron, the proud winners of their new Martin
16, boat number 100. Congratulations to John Mc Roberts and Paul Tingley
for their second place finish, Dave Cook and Ken Kelly for their third place finish, and Joe Hogan and Tom Franklin for their
fifth place finish.
Shake A Leg Miami's
Midwinter Regatta, February 26-29, 2004, was filled with loads of fun, good wind, and some challenging
sailing. With two fleets sailing in the Freedom Independence class, Team Three Gimps, (Karen Mitchell, Jan Bartleson
and Bill Quesenberry), putting into practice everything they learned from Magnus Lijedahl during the practice races on Thursday, tied
with Skip Doyle's team, (Skip Doyle, Randy Marks and Bryan Warman), with two bullets the first day. Day two continued
the trend with the two teams tieing again with two bullets and a second. Day three the fleets were divided into the
gold and the silver fleet. Karen and Skip now had to face the challenge of sailing against each other. The first
race began with Three Gimps finishing miles ahead. They were now one point ahead. Race two began with Three Gimps
sailing in dirty air at the start, Skip won the pin and sailed off to the left. A few encounters of the close
kind with Irv Rosenfled's team allowed a boat to finish between Three Gimps and Doyle. Now Skip was a point ahead.
Yikes! On race three, Three Gimps sailed out ahead. In leg four, Doyle approached on port tack attempting to leebow
Three Gimps, tacking too close. Contact was made. This put Three Gimps back into first place winning the regatta
with 11 points and Skip into second place with 16 points. Chicago's team, Neil Mechlin, Mike Saavedra and Art Laferriere
came in third place.
|
.jpg)
