U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team Profile - SKUD 18

by US Sailing on 4 Sep 2008
SKUD-18 skipper Nick Scandone (Newport Beach, CA) and crew Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, MA) are among the favorites to capture a gold medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in China, which begins Sept 6.

This year, the unstoppable team won the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials and US SAILING's 2008 Rolex Miami OCR by wide margins. They joined forces last year in the new SKUD-18 class, an 18-foot lead-assisted skiff with a center-lined seat, a big, asymmetrical spinnaker and a bulb keel. The SKUD-18 will make its doublehanded debut at the 2008 Paralympic Regatta in the coastal city of Qingdao, China, where the Olympic regatta was held this month. Racing begins Sept. 8 and the medals will be awarded on Sept. 13.

This event marks another debut: Not only is it the first Paralympic Games for Scandone, who was named the 2005 US SAILING Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, but McKinnon-Tucker will be the first woman to represent the United States in sailing at the Paralympic Games.

'They're one of the strongest teams in the world,' said US Disabled Sailing Team AlphaGraphics Head Coach Betsy Alison. 'They're ready to get on the water and get the job done.'

Nick Scandone

CLASS: SKUD-18
POSITION: Skipper
US DISABLED SAILING TEAM ALPHAGRAPHICS: 2005-2008
MEMBER OF: Balboa Yacht Club
HIGH SCHOOL: Fountain Valley High School
COLLEGE: University of California, Irvine (graduated 1990)
AGE: 42
BIRTHPLACE: Santa Ana, California
HOMETOWN: Newport Beach, California
OCCUPATION: Retired
SAILING SINCE AGE: 8
WEBSITE:http://alove4sailing.com/

SKUD-18 skipper Nick Scandone and crew Maureen McKinnon-Tucker look unstoppable in this new Paralympic class, which makes its debut at the 2008 Games. At the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in fall 2007, their string of strong finishes allowed them to mathematically sew up a regatta win before the final race. Their victory at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR in January '08 was a repeat performance.

'I was fortunate to team up with Maureen,' says Scandone. 'With her physical ability and my mental ability, we think we can go all the way.'

Their path may cut straight to a Paralympic medal, but the geometry of Nick Scandone's course to this point in his sailing career is anything but straight—and life has thrown him detours.

A sailor since age 8, Scandone sailed Sabots as a youth in his native Orange Country, California. In college at the University of California, Irvine, 'I spent a good four years, honing my skills,' says Scandone. The year 1988 was a highpoint: the school's sailing team won on a national level and Scandone was named an intercollegiate All-American. After graduation and a win at the 1991 470 North Americans, the Olympics were on his horizon.

But when he wasn't victorious at the winner-take-all Trials for the '92 Games, he came to a realization: 'It was time for a real job.' Scandone joined the ranks of serious weekend warriors, racing 505s, Lido 14s, Schock 35s, and other classes.

In 2002, he was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. 'After I was diagnosed, I continued to work … because you think the diagnosis may be wrong.' But when his condition progressed, he knew his life and his sailing would change. But it took time for him to reach the starting line of a disabled sailing regatta.

By 2004, Scandone was competing in the singlehanded 2.4mR class. In 2005, he won the 2.4mR World Championship in an 88-boat fleet of disabled and able-bodied sailors and was crowned US SAILING Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. As his condition progressed, he shifted to the doublehanded SKUD.

For Scandone, his sailing success and recognition is indeed bittersweet. He'd trade it to erase his physical limitations, but he cannot reverse the tide of his life and he made a choice: to focus on what he can do as opposed to what he can't, and to enjoy his life. Sailing provides that joy and focus. It's a reminder that his success comes from a certain mental balance: 'I have an even keel, in the sense that I don't get real high and I don’t get real low,' says Scandone. 'I shrug off the bad races and don't get too over-confident about the good ones.'

As he surveys his path in sailing, there are highpoints: his collegiate wins and the 2.4mR Worlds. Says Scandone: 'I hope in the near future I can add winning the Games in China to that list.'

SIGNIFICANT SAILING ACHIEVEMENTS:
Ranked #1 on the US Disabled Sailing Team in the 2.4mR class (2005-2008)
US SAILING Rolex Yachtsman of the Year (2005)
U.S. Olympic Committee Paralympic Athlete of the Year/Sailing (2005)
ICSA All-American (1988)

SAILING RESUME:

2008
1st US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR/Miami, Florida

2007
1st U.S. Paralympic Team Trials – Sailing/Newport, Rhode Island
2nd IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship/Rochester, New York
3rd C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta/Newport, Rhode Island

2006
4th IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship/Perth, Australia (2.4mR)

2005
1st 2.4 Meter Open World Championships/Elba, Italy
1st U.S. Independence & North American Challenge Cups/Chicago, Illinois (2.4mR)
3rd US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR (2.4mR/top U.S. finisher)

2004
1st U.S. Independence & North American Challenge Cups/Chicago, Illinois (2.4mR)

Maureen McKinnon-Tucker

CLASS: SKUD
POSITION: Crew
US DISABLED SAILING TEAM ALPHAGRAPHICS: 2002-2004, 2006-2008
MEMBER OF: Jubilee Yacht Club
HIGH SCHOOL: Minnechaug Regional High School
COLLEGE: University of Massachusetts, Boston
AGE: 43
BIRTHPLACE: Lynn, Massachusetts
HOMETOWN: Marblehead, Massachusetts
OCCUPATION: Adaptive sailing coordinator
SAILING SINCE AGE: 20
WEBSITE: http://sailchallengeinspire.org/

If you watched the finish of Race 14 at the 2007 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials, you may not have understood the scene unless you had done the math. When SKUD-18 sailors Maureen McKinnon-Tucker and skipper Nick Scandone crossed the finish line to capture their eleventh first-place finish at the Trials, a wave of emotion rolled over the course. Their coach boat, full with friends and family aboard, erupted in cheers and waves; McKinnon-Tucker broke down and cried; even Scandone was teary eyed. There was still another day of racing left, but this duo had sailed so well that they were mathematically untouchable before the final day of racing.

This Trials win, which earned Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker their first berth to the Paralympic Games, was a personal triumph for both racers who had overcome great obstacles. In the ‘90s, McKinnon-Tucker fell 13 feet off a seawall and became paralyzed. In 2002, Scandone was diagnosed with ALS, known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a condition reported to have a median life expectancy of three years. And for McKinnon-Tucker, this win was also history-making: she now earned the mantle of being the first woman to represent the United States in sailing at the Paralympic Games.

McKinnon-Tucker learned to sail when she was 20, when she met her then-boyfriend, now-husband Dan Tucker. Her husband raced J/24 sailboats, and she started to compete. After her accident, McKinnon-Tucker tried racing again. But the J/24s she once sailed were too challenging; the Freedom 20s designed for individuals with disabilities were too tame.

She gave up sailing for a while, until a chance meeting with Paralympic skipper Rick Doerr, who invited her aboard his triplehanded Sonar as crew. The Sonar was a good fit—and McKinnon-Tucker, Doerr, and crew Tim Angle campaigned for the 2004 Paralympics. But after a third place at the Trials, McKinnon-Tucker moved on to the SKUD—a doublehanded, performance dinghy making its Paralympic debut at the '08 Games. She connected with Scandone, and their pairing had a certain electricity: they blazed top finishes in a series of events before earning