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St. Petersburg Yacht Club sailors John Ross-Duggan, Brad Johnson, J.P. Creignou and alternate Roger Cleworth shocked the international field of paralympic competitors with a bronze-medal finish in the Sonar class.
The USA boat concentrated on teamwork rather than results in competitions leading up to the Games. The result was mid-fleet finishes at best. The squad was not considered one to watch. But when the big event came in Athens, Greece, the Americans were leading the regatta on the second day.
"This is by far the best team I have ever had," Ross-Duggan said. "It is a privilege to sail with them. They're great sailors."
Israel won the gold medal, and The Netherlands received silver. The USA edged the Germans by one point.
It was such a close tally for the bronze that the German team celebrated gleefully when it finished just in front of the Americans in the last race. The scoreboard, however, showed that the Germans needed to finish one place better to beat Ross-Duggan's total points.
"This was the finest Paralympic Games we've seen," said USA leader Serge Jorgensen of Sarasota.
"Previously, there were four or five boats in contention. Now we're seeing countries like Poland and Greece winning races," he said. "The level of competition has gone up exponentially since Sydney."
Maine's Tom Brown often trains on his 2.4-meter boat at St. Petersburg Sailing Center. He garnered the silver in the class in Athens, the same result that he had in Sydney four years ago. Brown was tied with France on the last day, losing the gold by one point. The Netherlands took the bronze.
Gene Hinkel of St. Petersburg was the ISAF official boat measurer for the Games. All of the Sonars and 2.4 meters had the hull, spars and sails measured to assure level competition. Each squad brought its own boat to the event.
Keith Burhans of Rochester, N.Y., who frequently sails on Tampa Bay, contrived a steering device for his skipper, quadriplegic Paul Callahan. They were a close second at the trials in St. Petersburg.
When Hinkel got a call from the Greek team asking how to get its quad skipper competitive, he put the Greeks in touch with Burhans.
It came as a package deal, with Burhans coaching the team with less than a week to practice in a boat new to the Greeks. They ended up winning one race and placing second in another, showing promise for the next Games.
MORGAN INVASION: Each year, sailboats designed by St. Petersburg's Charley Morgan invade Treasure Island Tennis and Yacht Club. This time, the Morgan Invasion had visitors from as far away as England and California. Morgan held forth with stories of various boats, events and personalities in his many years at the area waterfront. The Invasion doubled as a 75th birthday event for him. Showing he has not lost his touch, Morgan hopped aboard Pete Moller's Morgan 38 Rolling Thunder, did some of the driving and won their class.
Ron Kinney's Morgan 30 Eclipse won the PHRF-A division, and Allen Davidson's Morgan 30 Jackal topped the B class.
The Morgan 24 and 25 sailed together, with Blue Cloud adding to Jim Pardee's long list of wins over the years. It was bittersweet when he was awarded the Steve Pardee Memorial Trophy, which honors Jim's son for winning in the Morgan 24 class.
The Morgan 22 and Charles M. Hunt Navigator award-winner was Flash Skipper, with Robert Willard on the helm. The Lon Van Dorston Cruisers Trophy for the first Out Island Ketch to finish went to Frank Wreath, who sailed Chemaea. The winner of Out Island boats under 40 feet was Pedro Penichet on Paper Moon.
The Sally Morgan Perennial Participation Award was presented to Pete and Cheryl Moller for 16 years in the Morgan Invasion. The Most Pristine Boat Award went to Lady Catherine, owned by Buddy Black and Ron Bullock.
SUNFISH WORLDS: Tampa's Jeff Linton, a partner at St. Petersburg chandlery Masthead Enterprises, placed second among 100 boats at the Sunfish World Championship in Hyannis, Mass. Tampa's Mike Gable was 12th. These are not the drag it up the beach Sunfish of old. The class has become one of the most competitive anywhere, with strong fleets in our area.
ALLISON JOLLY REGATTA: The annual girls competition at St. Petersburg Sailing Center has been rescheduled for Oct. 23-24 to not conflict with other kids regattas.