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Whether you’re on the water or on land,
there is a huge array of activities to interest and entertain you.
Check the following websites for the most up-to-date news and event
information: It will be another benchmark year for the C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta when the event is hosted by Sail Newport for the eighth consecutive year on August 23-26, 2010. By keeping to its core mission – to provide sailors with disabilities an arena in which to improve and test their competitive skills – The Clagett has become North America’s premiere event for sailors with disabilities and, notably, was instrumental in the medal success of competitors at the 2008 Paralympic Games in China. Over the years the event organizers have met the needs of the participants by growing from a single class of boat competing, to including all three (Sonar, SKUD-18 and 2.4 Metres) that have been chosen as the equipment for the Paralympic Regatta, and, since 2008, by including Blind sailors who race Sail Newport’s fleet of J/22s with sighted guides. For 2010, in direct response to requests from competitors, The Clagett will be open to able-bodied sailors in both the 2.4 Metre and Sonar classes – a move which should result in not only more boats on the starting line, but also a more challenging level of competition. For the casual observer catching the action from either Goat Island or one of the many vessels offering harbor tours of Newport, there is little to distinguish the sailors with disabilities from the able-bodied competitors. The only real evidence is on the docks at Fort Adams – where the wheelchairs and prosthetics have been left behind.
PHOTO: ABOVE: While sailing
downwind, facing the stern on the J/22 allows blind sailors Matt
Chao and Nancy Jodoin to feel wind on their faces, while the two
sighted guides who are facing forward provide information to help
Chao steer the boat. Chao, winner of several US National Blind Championship
titles as well as the silver medal at the 1997 World Blind Sailing
Championship, developed this method of sailing which has been adapted
by other blind sailors.
Rhode Island’s Education at Sea Tall Ship Oliver Hazard Perry For some non-profit organizations, it might seem precarious to have one foot on the dock and the other on a boat, but for Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) it is just this situation that is helping to turn the concept of Rhode Island’s Education at Sea Tall Ship into a reality. As it stands, OHPRI already owns the steel hull of what, in 2012, will be christened the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry. After completion the Oliver Hazard Perry will sail as a 207- foot three-masted, square rigger — the largest privately owned school ship in America. This is the platform on which OHPRI has established its fund raising and educational goals, and it has held steady in the water as more and more supporters come to realize there is little, if any, proverbial gap between the dock and this magnificent opportunity. For more information, visit: ohpri.org or newportharborguide.com
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After 26 years, Shake-A-Leg, the oldest disabled sailing program in the US based in Newport, is now Sail to Prevail! The new name embodies the tenacity and blooming self-confidence of the thousands of disabled participants who have sailed from Fort Adams State Park for nearly three decades. They have prevailed! Overcoming their adversities they have successfully managed small and large victories on Narragansett Bay. Sail To Prevail most appropriately describes their conquests. They have prevailed! Despite the odds, despite the elements, and despite the limitations of their disabilities. They have sailed their boats without fear, without trepidation, and with an attitude of victory. They have, and will continue to, Sail To Prevail. Whether participating vigorously on our own first-ever adapted 12 Metre yacht Easterner, or simply learning a new task in our fleet of Freedom 20s or Sonars, they have, and will continue to Sail To Prevail! And in the process will develop the skills and fortitude that can be transferred to other parts of their lives. For more information visit sailtoprevail.org
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Junior sailors from Narragansett Bay and the surrounding region will be able to extend their summer sailing season this year by 150 miles. The Organizing Committee of the Ida Lewis Distance Race has announced the introduction of its Youth Challenge — aimed specifically at introducing junior sailors to offshore sailing — for this year’s sixth edition of the race, scheduled to start on Friday, August, 20, 2010. Regional yacht clubs and sailing organizations are invited to field youth-crewed teams on the 150 nm “Block Island” course that is offered for PHRF classes. (The “Montauk” course, reserved for IRC classes, is 177 nm.) “The idea of the Ida Lewis Distance Race Youth Challenge is to give junior programs an incentive to organize teams and develop the skills necessary to succeed in a medium-distance overnight race,” said Committee Member Joe Cooper, who is spearheading the effort. “We want to introduce junior sailors to the disciplines of seamanship: navigating, night sailing, safety related issues, coordination of larger crews, sail handling and related areas of big boat sailing that are not required in typical dinghy-based programs,” he added. In 2006, second-place finisher Tom Rich (Middletown, RI) said his mostly teenage crew experienced their first-ever overnighter on his Peterson 42 Settler, and they will never forget the whale that sprayed the boat when it spouted, seemingly in encouragement of their efforts. Online registration is open through August 6, 2010. Qualifications and entry forms can be found online at ildistancerace.org, or contact Youth Challenge Coordinators Joe Cooper / 401-965-6006 / Hoodri-sales@att.net or Andy Dickinson / 401-423-0600 / andy@jby.com return to Newport Harbor Guide Articles |
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