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My name is Ricardo Arantes Dubeux, originaly of Pernambuco/Brazil, Recife and graduated in Civil Engineering 1990. I my sailor life, have significant contribution for Cabanga Iate Club de Pernambuco(www.cabangaiateclub.com.br), while hold important positions in our Sailing Club such as the Sailing Vice Director, Marketing and Events Director, Vice Commodore and Counselor. This confirms my great interest and engagement in contributing to the development of the sailing culture not only in our State but in all around Brazil.
I'm son of the Hobie Cat pioneer in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Mr. Mario Jose Dubeux Junior, for his brilliant performance representing The Cabanga Iate Club in several competitions. During the this time, I held important positions such as 3rd Place in the XII Hobie Cat 14 World Championship in 1997, 1st Place in the Hobie Cat 14 Brazilian National Ranking, 2nd Place in the Hobie Cat 14th and Super Cat 17th Brazilian National Championships and others in many significant regional and national events in Brazil.
I was also member of the Organization and Protest Regatta Committee for several State, Regional and National Sailing Championship events for the Hobie Cat 14 and 16. He held the position of Member of the Organization Committee and Technical Analyst and Commentator for the Recife- Fernando de Noronha Off-Shore International Ocean Race during the period of 1999 to 2006.
On 02 January, along with my whole family arrived in Miami, Florida, USA, to receive my Green Card, in the classification of Alien Of Extraordinary Ability, due to my achievements in the candle in my entire life and went to volunteer for Shake A Leg Miami.
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The old adage "build it and they will come," is a well-echoed sentiment; at Shake-A-Leg Miami, it is a testament to will and ambition on a grand scale. Our beautiful facility, the Shake-A-Leg Miami Aquatic Center and Marine Academy, has been built, and the people are coming! Every day, we set sail to build friendships, instill confidence, teach skills, and provide hope and new opportunities. |
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To witness a child who has never before been in a boat, get into a Shake-A-Leg boat, and become an active participant of the crew, is a sight that is a supreme delight! For over fifteen years, we have seen this sight countless times over, and it is still a thrill. |
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Shake-A-Leg Miami helps children and adults with physical, developmental and economic challenges; liberating them from the realm of imagination into the realm of experience. They have successfully created an inspirational haven, where people of all backgrounds and abilities find common ground. |
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Shake-A-Leg Miami is South Florida’s "Gateway to Biscayne Bay." Their continued partnership with the City of Miami, plus over 100 community organizations, both public and private, is the ultimate confirmation of the power of unity and collaboration.
"We are infinitely grateful for the dedicated work and contributions of our Board of Directors and advisors, donors, staff, and volunteers. Shake-A-Leg Miami is a unique and enlivened place where hope is alive, aspirations are enabled, and where dreams are launched every day,"says Harry R. Horgan,Co-Founder and CEO, Shake-A-Leg Miami. |
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Enter Harry Horgan 49, paralyzed from the chest down weeks after graduating from college in 1980; a truck door he was leaning against opened and he spilled onto the road. A sailor since boyhood, he refused to give up the sea, and within a year was back on a boat; his buddies would hoist him from his wheelchair. “Being on the water allowed me to feel good about myself,” says Horgan, a married father of a 6-year-old son. “I wanted to do that for others.” |
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Today, through his nonprofit Shake-A-Leg Miami, Horgan and his 24 person staff and 250 volunteers teach some 3,000 physically and mentally disabled kids and adults each year. Programs, which are free for special-needs and low-income participants, range from sailing and kayaking (on handicapped-accessible vessels) to marine science classes. “Harry is an inspiration-the kids realize if someone with special needs can do this,, they can do anything they want,”
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Paralyzed as a young man, Harry Horgan helps disabled kids feel the freedom of the sea: “And that, says Horgan, is the most important lesson of all. “It goes beyond the water,” he says. “Now they can see the horizon.”
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Harry R. Horgan, is a modest man of great accomplishment. Following a severe spinal cord injury in 1980, Harry started Shake-A-Leg as a non-profit organization with the idea of helping himself and others maximize their independence. Over the years he has created and overseen an array of rehabilitation, recreation, and educational programs that have served to improve the lives of literally thousands of people, including participation with TPI in the design and development of a universally accessible sailboat called the Freedom Independence. |
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In 1989, Harry’s efforts caught the attention of Dr. Barth Green, Chairman of Neurosurgery at UM Jackson Memorial Hospital and co-founder of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and Shake-A-Leg was relocated to the shores of Biscayne Bay. |
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Harry is a graduate of Providence College where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and a well-earned Honorary Doctorate Degree in Health Services. He is the President of Shake-A-Leg Miami and resides in Miami, Florida with his wife Susie and son Eli. |
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Danberg soaks up sailing
Javelin, powerlifting, shot put. Scott Danberg has had an impressive run in the Paralympic Games for disabled athletes over the past 20 years -- beginning with a silver medal in Seoul in 1988 and finishing eighth in the shot put last summer in China.
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Today, the 46-year-old kinesiologist and self-described dwarf from Cooper City is taking the helm in Paralympic sailing -- hoping to represent the United States in 2012. |
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Now in 12th place in the 2.4mR class in the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, Danberg is on track to accomplish an important first step in his campaign. If he finishes as one of the top three Americans Friday, he will earn a spot on the U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team.
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''I came back from China and thought there was time to continue new sports and make a Paralympic run,'' Danberg said. ``I looked at US Sailing, and it seemed to be a good fit.''
Danberg had done a good bit of long-distance cruising with his dad in California as a child but had little experience in a small, single-handed sailboat. But last fall he met Magnus Liljedahl, 2000 Olympic gold medalist in Star sailboats, and founder of Team Paradise headquartered at Shake-A-Leg Miami on Biscayne Bay. Liljedahl showed Danberg various models of boats that Team Paradise provides for disabled sailors.
Danberg selected the 2.4mR, a 13 ½-foot craft that he sits inside ''like [in] a go-kart.'' Some competitors sail with a foot pedal, but at 4-8 with a deformed right foot, Danberg prefers to use a hand tiller.
Since last November, he has been training diligently during time off from his job at the Pritikin Longevity Center in Aventura. He said Liljedahl has been a big help.
''He's really taken me under his wing,'' Danberg said. ``I've been soaking it in.'' |
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Danberg said he feels lucky to live in South Florida with the resources of Team Paradise and the US Sailing Center close at hand. He is relishing this week's Rolex competition, sailing against the gold, silver and bronze medalists in last summer's Paralympic Games.
''I'm sailing against the best out there, picking up all the tricks and learning as I go,'' Danberg said. |
Liljedahl says his protégé has a good shot for 2012.
Age: 46
Hometown: Miami, Fla.
US SAILING TEAM: 1998-2000
Member: Coral Reef Yacht Club
Attended high school in Goteborg, Sweden, graduated 1970.
Chalmers, Goteborg, Sweden, graduated 1975. |
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At a team meeting in Sydney, the 18 members of the U.S.A.'s 2000 Olympic Team - Yachting elected Liljedahl, crew for Mark Reynolds in the Star class, as Captain of the sailing team. The 46-year old Liljedahl grew up in Sweden and was educated as a construction engineer. Competing in the Finn in his homeland, he placed second in the Swedish Nationals and sixth in the Europeans in 1979. The following year he moved to Florida, and has been a resident there ever since.
Nicknamed 'the Viking' the hearty Liljedahl says he is best-known for his fighting spirit -- something he has recently had to put to the test. He has sailed with Reynolds since 1997, and together they were the top-ranked U.S. team in the Star for two years. Going into '99 they were the top-ranked team in the World. Then tragedy struck in June of '99 when Liljedahl's wife of 22 years, Agneta, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. With Liljedahl at her side, she fought a hard but brief battle with the illness, succumbing in October of that year. Since returning to competition with Reynolds in December of '99, the pair have won the Olympic Team Trials, the prestigious Star World Championship and Kiel Week in their preparations for the Olympic Regatta.
While in training for the Olympics, Liljedahl has found the fortitude to establish a scholarship in memory of his beloved wife, The Agneta Liljedahl Ballet Scholarship, which in less than a year has raised over $20,000 to promote the education of young ballet dancers who otherwise could not afford to take classes.
SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS:
Star World Champion ('00)
(Click here to link to Magnus' personal website.)
SAILING RESUME:
2000
Kiel Week, Germany (1st/41 Stars)
Star World Championship, Annapolis (1st/112 boats)
Star Olympic Team Trials, San Francisco (1st/16 boats)
Star Spring Championship, San Francisco (2nd/23 boats)
Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, Fla. (4th/50 Stars)
1999
Star World Championship, Italy (3rd/129 boats)
Star Olympic Pre-Trials, San Francisco (1st/17 boats)
Star Spring Championship, Pass Christian, MI (5th/26 boats)
Bacardi Cup, Miami, FL (4th/92 Stars)
Miami OCR (1st/39 Stars)
1998
Star North American Championship, Lake George, NY (1st/37 boats)
Star European Championship, Germany (1st/64 boats)
Star World Championship, Slovenia (24th/97 boats)
Bacardi Cup, Miami (1st/66 Stars)
Star Spring Championship, Nassau (2nd/20 boats)
Miami OCR (2nd/16 Stars)
1997
Star European Championship, Sweden (1st/37 boats)
Bacardi Cup, Miami (1st/63 Stars)
Spring Championship, New Orleans (1st/19 boats)
Star World Championship, Marblehead (2nd/71 boats)
Star North Americans, Marina del Rey (13th/24 boats)
1996
Bacardi Cup, Miami (1st/95 Stars |
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'He's got a long way to go, but that's what's so inspiring,'' Liljedahl said. ``He's gotten a crash course on sailing in a very short period of time. He's so new to it, but he's a competitor, very eager to learn, a very positive individual.''
Liljedahl founded Team Paradise 3 ½ years ago with the mission of providing sailing equipment for the disabled -- regardless of nationality -- free of charge. Seventeen athletes who made the Paralympic Games last summer had trained using Team Paradise boats and gear.
Liljedahl hopes to expand the organization's mission to include intensive coaching, nutrition, and conditioning.
''As we grow, we want to help out more people with the full treatment that it takes to go out and win the gold,'' he said
ABLEDATA Fact Sheet on Aquatic Sports and Recreation Equipment
Introduction
Sports can provide physical activity and recreation that yield psychological and physical benefits. The number of people with disabilities who engage in sports and other physical activities has increased dramatically. National and international sports associations have formed, and organized competitions for persons with disabilities are now commonplace for many different sports. Whether for competition, recreation, or exercise, the sports equipment market is overflowing with products to get fans off the sidelines and into the sports arena.
This ABLEDATA fact sheet presents general information on types of aquatic sports, recreation, and exercise products listed in the ABLEDATA database. Sports equipment of any kind is designed with user safety in mind, but it must be fitted and employed properly. Questions on the type or model of equipment that will be fun and safe should be directed to the product manufacturer or a sports organization, prosthetist, or physical, occupational or recreational therapist.
Product Types
Boating
Sailboats, dinghies, kayaks, and canoes are available with a variety of adaptive features to increase safety, provide physical support, and enable users with disabilities to control the boat.
Safety: Adaptive boats are typically designed with an inherently stable hull shape or extra ballast to minimize the risk of capsizing. Seating may be designed to increase stability further by lowering the user's center of gravity.
Seating and physical support: To enable a person with physical disabilities to sit in the boat, benches may be replaced with sling seats, and foot supports may be provided.
Controls: To accommodate persons with limited mobility or upper extremity disabilities, adaptive sailboats may have sail control lines designed for one hand use and/or operation from a single seated position. Adaptive rudder controls include joystick steering. |
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Figure : The Martin 16 Sloop, made by Abbott Boats and sold by Inventure Management Limited, is an accessible sailboat with adjustable seating, joystick rudder controls, and one hand sail controls.
In addition to adaptive boats that are designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities, there are also systems for adapting standard boats. These include a custom-configured elevating deck to provide dock-to-deck wheelchair access for a yacht or other boat, and a rowing system that enables a rower to row with two limbs in any combination (two arms, two legs, or an arm and a leg). |
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Figure : The FrontRower from Ron Rantilla Rowing Systems lets the rower face forward in a canoe or narrow rowboat, using any combination of upper or lower limbs to row.
Some adaptive boats are designed for use by one individual with a disability. Others are designed for use by two or more people, allowing a person with severe physical disabilities to be accompanied by a personal attendant or a person with visual impairments to be accompanied by a sighted navigator.
Getting into a boat from a wheelchair may be facilitated by a mobile lift. To provide deck-to-deck wheelchair access for a yacht or boat, an elevating deck can be installed on either the boat or a dock. Decks are available custom designed in size and shape to fit a specific boat or dock.
Sailing and rowing races, regattas, and other boating competitions for people with disabilities are now held regularly around the world. Many of the organizations that sponsor these events also offer programs that teach sailing and boating skills to beginners. For information on some of these organizations, see the list of Aquatic Sports Organizations that appears below under Resources. |
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Spalding takes lead at Rolex regatta
Canada's Jennifer Spalding took the lead in the Laser Radial class in Monday's opener of U.S. Sailing's Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta on Biscayne Bay.
But three Floridians, including the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, are hot on Spalding's transom.
Spalding finished first and second in two races for a score of three -- four points ahead of runner-up Anna Tunnicliffe of Plantation, who won a gold medal in Beijing last summer.
Emily Billing of Clearwater is in third place, also with seven points, and leads fellow Clearwater resident Paige Railey -- last year's OCR winner -- by two points.
Tunnicliffe, 26, hopes to return to Olympic competition in 2012, but her immediate goal is a top-three finish among the 42-boat fleet at the conclusion of racing Saturday.
''I'm going to go out and sail and try to learn something from every race,'' Tunnicliffe said. ``You can always learn. You can always be better.''
The regatta, now in its 20th year, is U.S. Sailing's only ranking regatta for 2009, so it's a must-do event for sailors hoping to make the U.S. team.
It's also the second event of the ISAF World Cup. Tunnicliffe won the opener in Australia in Laser Radials.
A record fleet of 323 boats, with 443 sailors from 41 countries, are competing in 10 Olympic and three Paralympic classes.
SAILING RESULTS
LASER RADIAL: 1. Jennifer Spalding, Canada, 1-2, 3. LASER: 1. Pavlos Kontides, Cypress, 5-2, 7. 470 men: 1. Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl, USA, 3-1, 4. 470 women: 1. Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving, USA, 1-2, 3. Finn: 1. Christopher Cook, Canada, 1-3, 4. RS:X men: 1. Dorian van Rijsselberge, Netherlands, 2-1, 3. RS:X women: 1. Blanca Manchon, Spain, 1-1, 2. STAR: 1. Flavio Marazzi/Petter Morland Pedersen, Switzerland, 1-3, 4. 49er: 1. Karth Delle/Marc Nico Luca, Austria, 1-1-3, 5, 2. WOMEN'S MATCH RACING: 1. Debbie Capozzi, USA, 6. SKUD-18 (Paralympic): 1. Scott Whitman, USA, 1-1, 2. 2.4mR (Paralympic): 1. Allan Leibel, Canada, 2-1-2, 5. SONAR (Paralympic): 1. Paul Callahan, USA, 1-1, 2.
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Established in 1990 by US SAILING, the Rolex Miami OCR annually draws elite sailors, including Olympic and Paralympic medalists and hopefuls from around the world. In non-Olympic/Paralympic years, the regatta is especially important as a ranking regatta for sailors hoping to qualify for the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics.
US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR can boast a record turnout for a post-Olympic year, with 443 sailors on 323 boats set to begin racing tomorrow on Biscayne Bay. The event is critical for 2012 Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls and marks the second of seven stops in the International Sailing Federation's (ISAF) World Cup. In its 20th year, the event also is the only ranking regatta for American sailors hoping to make the 2009 U.S. Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. |
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With 41 countries registered, the USA has the largest contingent of sailors with 173, followed by Canada (80), Great Britain (29), Italy (14), Spain (13) and Denmark (11).
"This is a good time and place in the quadrennium to get young teams jumpstarted," said US Sailing AlphaGraphics Team coach Luther Carpenter (LaPorte, Texas), who is working primarily with Laser Radial and 49er teams aspiring to make the 2009 U.S. Sailing Team Alphagraphics. He joins almost 80 national and private coaches who are on hand to pass on well-documented knowledge for getting sailors up-to-speed as quickly as possible. "It's a big misconception that a coach just tells a sailor which way to go. It's so far from that; it's more about education, how to go fast and teaching the 'process' of becoming a medalist. The average age of our Olympic team went down last quad, and we're excited about that. Across the board, we have younger sailors here: they are talented and they are getting in the game early."
One of those promising to shine here is Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), just named to the newly launched US Sailing Team - U23 (Under 23).
The 10 Olympic classes competing at US SAILING's 2009 Rolex Miami OCR are: Laser Radial, Laser, Finn, Men's RS:X, Women's RS:X, 49er, Men's 470, Women's 470, Star, and the SB3 Laser (replacing the Elliott 6m only at this regatta, for the new women's match racing discipline). The three Paralympic classes are: 2.4mR, SKUD-18 and Sonar.
Cumulative points tallied from the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup 2008-2009 will determine World Cup champions in each of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic classes. The series started with Sail Melbourne (Australia) last December and rounds out with the Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia (Palma, Spain) and Semaine Olympique Française (Hyères, France) in April; Delta Lloyd Regatta (Medemblik, The Netherlands) in May; Kieler Woche (Kiel, Germany) in June; and Skandia Sail for Gold (Weymouth, Great Britain) in September.
Regatta Headquarters are located at the US Sailing Center Miami, an official Olympic training center, in the Coconut Grove section of Miami, Florida. Event organizers have partnered with the City of Miami to provide world-class venues for competition. Additional hosts for the event include Coral Reef Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club and Shake-a-Leg-Miami. These sailing organizations host classes onshore, as well as help run the on-the-water racing. The Coral Reef Yacht Club also hosts the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as a mid-week dinner hosted by Nautica. In addition, the University of Miami's Sports Medicine Center will provide on-site medical care during the event.
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