The 2008 Beijing Paralympics.
Aspiring for Gold. Inspiring for Life.

Competition Goals | Inspirational Goals  | Leaving a Legacy

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) decided in April 2005 to include a Two-Person Keelboat event in the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.  The International Foundation of Disabled Sailing (IFDS) announced on November 7, 2005 that the UD18, a new Australian design, was the boat of choice. In addition, the IFDS announced that the event requires at least one female and one Functional Classification System (FCS 1), the most severely disabled category in disabled sailing.

Since these announcements, sailing rivals David Cook and John McRoberts have each formed a two person team, recruiting Brenda Hopkin and Stacie Louttit to be their teammates. Brenda and Stacie compliment David’s and John’s sailing abilities and physical limitations. Team UCAN2 is fortunate to have the expert direction of Coach Steve McBride.

In a spirit of cooperation, they have joined forces for a two boat campaign to form Team UCAN2 – and may the best sailors represent Canada in Beijing in 2008. 

Two teams working together will allow everyone to improve their skills faster and reduce costs in coaching and other areas. This is a serious commitment by team members and they need your help and support.

The team is representing the Disabled Sailing Association (DSA) – Victoria, a registered Canadian charity since 1994; the Canadian Forces Sailing Association (CFSA) and the Royal Victoria Yacht Club (RVYC).

Team Goals

Competition Goals

• Gold Medal in Beijing in 2008
• Top 3 at Pre-Paralympic Regatta in 2008
• Top 25% at Worlds in Rochester, New York in 2007
• Top 30% at SKUD18 Midwinter Championships, St. Peterdsburg. Florida, in March 2007
• Top 30% at St. Petersburg Americas Regatta and Miami Olympic Classes Regatta in December 2006 and January 2007
• First and Second Place Canadian National Qualifying Regatta in March 2006, thus earning both crews the right to be on the Canadian Sailing Team.

Inspirational Goals

• Recruiting young sailors, disabled and able-bodied alike, by sharing use of our exciting high-performance UD 18 sailboat.
• Coaching junior sailors by sharing our training sessions and coaching resources with junior sailors.
• Providing sailing seminars to youth and adults from Victoria/Sidney sailing clubs.
  

Leaving a Legacy

As a result of David and John’s Team Orca Paralympic campaign in 1996, their successful fundraising efforts resulted in Disabled Sailing Association – Victoria acquiring a twenty-three foot Sonar sailboat as a legacy for other sailors with a disability.

Team UCAN2 plans to leave a similar legacy as that described above.  We have allocated 10% of our overall budget to be shared by the sailing-related youth organizations in Victoria.  

 

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© 2006 Team UCAN2. Site designed by Harrison McKay Communications.