Rio 2016 - America's Cup champion says Paralympics need to think big

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 18 Sep 2016 America's Cup skippers, Russell Coutts and Dean Barker were amongst the first to congratulate Rick Dodson and his Sonar crew on their fourth place in the Paralympics which concluded on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro.

Dodson was a member of the Coutts led Team New Zealand crew which won the America's Cup in 1995 in San Diego, and then defended in Auckland in 2000. Barker skippered in the final race of the 2000 America's Cup. Dodson sailed with One World in the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, in Auckland.

'The first email of congratulations we got was from Russell Coutts and the second was from Dean Barker,' team manager Celia Snedden told Sail-World from Rio de Janeiro. 'The third one was from Tom Schnackenberg, which was pretty cool,' she added.

Schnackenberg, the navigator on NZL32 and one of the great brains of sailing, was also Dodson's business partner in North Sails NZ for a number of years, in the era when the loft leapt to prominence making sails for Whitbread Round the World Race and America's Cup winners.

'When we got back to the athlete's lounge at the Olympic Village, Paul Tingley of the Bronze medal winning Canadian crew came over and presented Rick with their Olympic Mascot (presented on the Olympic podium to each medal winner). 'You guys were hard work' were Tingley's words,' Snedden said.

Tingley (46) is a five-time Paralympic veteran, winning a Gold medal in 2008 and Bronze in 2000 and 2016. He sailed the single-handed keelboat and three man Sonar keelboat at previous Paralympics.

'It was really cool of him to do that - to make the effort to come over to our area in the Village, and present with the Bronze medal winner's mascot,' she added.

Six crews were in contention for two medals going into the final day of the 11 race regatta.

Racing got under way on the Pão de Açucar, or Sugarloaf course, on time just after noon, in a SSW breeze of 10kts, with shifts of up to 15 degrees.

“The course was even closer to the beach than we had been previously on that course,” Dodson told Sail-World.

The New Zealand crew, sailing in their first Paralympics started the race awkwardly, rounding the second mark in 8th place. They were in deep trouble at times on the first beat – being as low as 12th place in the 14 boat fleet.

“We were at the back end of the bunch at the first mark,” Dodson said.

“The second time up we went right, and that got us into first place.”

On the second beat, Dodson a twice America's Cup winner and multiple World champion skipper took a flyer and headed for the beach. His massive gamble - or superb sailing intuition - paid a massive dividend as they turned a 120-metre deficit into a 15metre lead over the Brits. The US crew was in 4th - good enough for Silver. The Bronze was now in the Kiwis hands with all their main rivals back in the pack.

The Australian crew who had won the Gold Medal the previous day also played a useful role getting between the Kiwis and their competition. They would not be an easy boat to pass.

The Kiwis used their downwind speed to good advantage on the second run and eased away to be 70 metres in front of the second placed Israeli crew. But Dodson’s lead got chopped back to a still very handy 40 metres around the bottom mark as they started on the third and final lap.

Once again Dodson and crew of Chris Sharp and Andrew May headed for Flamengo Beach. There a large walk-up crowd was able to watch the racing from the white-sand and on big TV screens. This time, their competitors wouldn't allow the Kiwis a free run of the course. Dodson was pursued all the way into the beach by most crews - except for the USA, who stuck closer to the middle of the course, taking time out of the NZ crew.

Coming into the top mark the New Zealanders, who had done the beat in just a single tack, got a right-hand shift, forcing them to overlay the mark and rounding just four metres ahead of the US.

“On the last beat, the Americans just got underneath us at the top mark. We were close. Both boats were overlapped all the way down the run.”

The American crew included New Zealander, now US citizen, Brad Kendell who lost both his legs in a fiery plane crash in 2003, which killed his father, Kialoa skipper, Bruce Kendell and the pilot.

Rounding the final mark, the New Zealanders were on song for the Bronze medal, with their main rivals back in the fleet and the Australians sitting in eighth place just ahead of the Canadians.

The Australians paid the penalty for their heavier crew weight and dropped to the back of their group – letting the Canadians through into seventh. That was enough to swing the Bronze the way of the North Americans

The Kiwi comeback slipped out of gear as the leaders rounded the bottom mark and headed on the short reaching leg to the finish.

With the US pinning the Kiwis to leeward, there were no passing lanes on the final 200 metre reaching leg. Dodson managed to cut the margin down to just 1 second at the finish and could then only watch the action behind them - and hope.

“On the final leg going into the crowd, we got stuck under the Americans and butchered it. But we are happy with fourth. We worked hard,” Dodson told Sail-World.

Dodson had seen the Canadians pick up the vital place 230 metres behind the Kiwis on the final run. “We’d have rather that had been different,” he chuckled. “We could easily have been third, but that’s fine.”

“I enjoyed the regatta. It would have been good to have sailed the final race a bit further off the beach. The conditions weren’t the best in Rio, but it was OK.”

Like many crews – this month and last - most of Dodson’s issues were with the breeze at the top mark, particularly on the Sugarloaf course which is dominated by a 300metre high lump of marble and granite, and with lesser peaks around it. The southerly breeze which prevailed for all but one day of the Paralympics - and most of the Olympic regatta, meant that the Sugarloaf was a big and random influence.

“Had the racing been in a better place, I’m sure we would have finished first or second,” Dodson reflected.

“For instance today we got a shift from the beach and right-hand side of the Sugarloaf. The Americans went more left and got more pressure from the breeze coming around the other side of it.”

“Everyone said “you have to go right” and we did go right, but we shouldn’t be sailing that close to the Sugarloaf.”

“There weren’t big shifts today – but the ones we did get were 10-15 degrees.

The finish of the regatta leaves Sailing, as a sport, to a nomadic existence wandering in the Paralympic wilderness as it has been dropped for Tokyo in 2020.

Dodson’s view is that Parasailing must continue and indeed, must expand and lift itself up another level or two.

He says the competitors want a Paralympic regatta organised for 2020.

“We can do this ourselves in 2020. We can get all the boats down to Auckland and have the Paralympics there instead of Japan.

“Everyone here says that would be fantastic. Have it in February 2020. We need to sort out if there are going to be new boats,” he added.

Dodson also wants to see an RNZYS style Youth Program set up for young Parasailors.

“We need to get young people involved in Parasailing,” he says. “You’ve got people who are amputees and all sorts of disabilities that just need to come along and have a go.”

“We need to put together a program like they have for Youth Sailing for the parasailers. We need to get the young kids involved.

One of the interesting aspects of this regatta has been the performance of two top professional sailors who had a lot of success in able-bodied sailing.

Surprisingly they didn’t clean up the 2016 Paralympics, and both finished out of the medals in fourth place.

Dodson has frequently commented on the closeness of the racing in this regatta and says the standard of the sailing in the Paralympic classes is very high.

“We have to lift the Parasailing above the Sailing for the Disabled level - to where you are considered to be a proper yachtsman.”

“If you are young, and something happens to you, then you can get into parasailing and just change your sport.”

“People just have to back themselves a bit more and just go and do it.”

With two Gold medals, and a Silver, plus the Kiwis fourth from the Rio regatta, there is a strong competition base Downunder to take Parasailing to the next level. “The Australians are tough competition,” says Dodson.

“I’ve got MS, and there’s others here missing limbs and as well as guys in wheelchairs. But you don’t look at them like they have a disability.”

“I look at them as people I’m sailing against. You treat them the same as you treat any crew or competitor. You don’t treat them as a Para or Disabled guy - you play as hard as you can – and they do too!”.