Report on Special Olympics
Maryland State Championships
By Joseph Warren
Aaron Boesenecker, Frank Gallagher I took three
Lightnings to the Special Olympics event at St. Mary's college on July
31/Aug.1. Drew Hudson
graciously loaned his boat to Aaron.
This event was open to any level of learning disabled folks and
featured kayak and sailboat racing in Flying Juniors’ (FJ’s), Hobie
16’s, and Lightnings. We
had a good time and the three special Olympians sailing with us enjoyed
six races in winds that ranged from 3 to 18 knots.
It was the final event of the summer sailing programs in several
counties in Maryland. Frank
has gone to St. Mary’s before sailing FJ’s, but this is the first
year that Lightnings were taken. Several
Lightning sailors have volunteered on Monday nights at the marina over
the last few years using our boats.
I was impressed with the
elaborate organization of this event and the number of people involved.
There were about 60 special Olympians, many of their parents and
lots of volunteers—probably about 200 folks in all.
That’s why I’ve written this.
I believe that this story is worth telling in some detail to our
fleet. The organizers of
the event are trying to get more learning disabled folks from Northern
VA involved and there is potential for more Lightnings to attend the St.
Mary’s event.
A few words about the
organization: the Special Olympics are in 150 countries.
In the U.S. they are in every state; and Maryland Special
Olympics (SOMD) has chapters in 20 Maryland counties and Northern
Virginia. Maryland was the
first state to offer a sailing program; in all, eighteen states have
sailing programs. Within
Maryland, each county is responsible for its own organization.
SOMD hosts nearly 20 events in all four seasons including golf,
soccer, basketball, cross-country and downhill skiing.
Some Maryland athletes are going to Nagano, Japan for the Winter
Special Olympics.
The opening ceremonies
really did feel like the Olympics.
The president of SOMD opened the ceremonies at 11 am Saturday
with lighting of the Olympic torch, colors presentation from a local
high school and a noisy arrival of state police motorcycles.
That beats any opening ceremony for a sailing event I have ever
attended. We had lunch
after the ceremonies and racing started at 1pm.
The sailing program moved
to St. Mary’s college six years ago when the college offered its
sailing and other facilities. This
was the second year for kayaks featuring several lanes for different
distances. It was a big
attraction for the gallery on the banks.
The cove area where we sailed is a part of the St. Mary’s
river. It’s a deep and
lovely area to sail in. About
13 of St. Mary’s FJ’s were used and 20 Hobies from several yacht
clubs came. The
Lightnings sailed on a separate course with the FJ’s.
U.S. Sailing rules were used with all standard procedures. These were real races! On
Saturday, winds ranged from 6 knots in the first race to gusts of 18 in
the third. Lighter winds
prevailed on Sunday.
Placement of the special
athletes is based on experience on a type of boat (monohull or
catamaran) and responsibilities based on capabilities.
Level I means the athlete is responsible for headsail trim.
The on board coach can offer advice, trim the mainsail and steer.
Level II means that the athlete shall control the helm 50% of the
time. In Level III athletes
have complete control of the boat.
Joe McCraken (from VA), a level II, was sailing with Frank.
Aaron sailed with J.D. Tressler of Virginia and I with Jill
Durbin, from Montgomery County; both are level I’s.
Ellen Cooper, a mother of an athlete sailing on an FJ, sailed
with me. Team Boesenecker
beat us 5 out of 6 races. Aaron
and Frank and their special athletes got the gold. It’s so comforting
to get a silver medal as runner-up.
Having more Lightnings would be a big benefit—more boats at
each level.
One of the wonderful
parts of the program is the low cost to participants.
For the volunteers and coaches, meals and rooms are provided by
the college, but organized by SOMD.
Volunteers and coaches were provided a college dorm on Saturday
night. Dinner on Sat. and
breakfast on Sunday, and lunches on Sat. and Sunday also are provided
free. The dinner was
superb. Think of it: there
were at least six kinds of dessert, and they didn’t run out.
I had salmon for the main meal.
I didn’t think folks could eat so much, and have the food not
run out. But, they
didn’t. The pace is far more relaxed than at the typical
regatta. Since the starting
time was 1pm on Sat., there is time to drive out Sat. morning and get
the boat ready before the opening ceremonies.
Lightnings were kept in the water overnight, with a slip for
each, tied up to a fixed dock Sat. night.
The launch ramp is mostly gravel, but usable.
The main difficulty for more boat launchings is the short narrow
road leading to the launch ramp. Trimming
of the trees would permit masts raisings before getting to the launch
ramp.
In conclusion, I had a
great time. I was fortunate
to go since I sailed on Monday evenings only the last two times. The special athletes sailing monohulls, start in early June
with SCOW’s Flying Scots them move to Lightnings in late June.
There are far more Lightnings than Scots, so I see possibilities
for a better state championship event with more Lightnings.
I encourage our skippers to consider this event.
|