Disabled sailing moves outside the Paralympics

by AC32 Media and Sail-World on 6 Sep 2008
Disabled sailing is crossing into many other areas of the sport, outside the Paralympics. In the first of two stories on ideaArgo, founded by Tornado and Star sailor Lars Grael, the AC32 website backgrounded the America's Cup intentions (back in 2006) of ideaArgo.

Here Lars Grael and President of ideaArgo, Antonio Spinelli outline some of the issues facing their challenge.

(Since this story was written, Lars Grael went on to compete in the Brazillian Olympic Trials in the Star class - leading the event at the midway stage before being overtaken by eventual 2008 Olympic Silver medallist Robert Scheidt. The ideaArgo campaign is currently competing in the Rolex Maxi Yacht Cup in Peurto Cervo (ITA) and several disabled sailors recruited and inspired by the ideaArgo America's Cup challenge are competing in Qingdao at the 2008 Paralympics).

With two Olympic medals to his name, a family connection to the America’s Cup (brother Torben sails with Luna Rossa), and an active role in sports administration in his native Brazil, it would appear that there was nothing unusual when Lars Grael visited Valencia during the 2006 Louis Vuitton Acts to build support for a challenge for the 32nd America’s Cup.

The fledgling potential challenge, named ‘ideaArgo’, does have a unique characteristic however; it is a challenge designed to be built around disabled athletes. Lars Grael is an example of the type of crew the team will be fielding – after winning his second Olympic bronze medal in 1996 he was involved in an accident with a motorboat whilst he was training, and one of his legs was amputated.

Since then, he has been a tireless campaigner for sport in Brazil, and has remained an active sailor, at the top levels of his sport. ‘ideaArgo’ is his latest challenge. AC32 spoke to Lars and the President of ideaArgo, Antonio Spinelli, when they were in Valencia to take in the Louis Vuitton Acts.

How did ideaArgo originate?
Grael: 'ideaArgo was born through the will of Antonio Spinelli and his friends. Antonio phoned me up one day and asked what I thought about challenging for the next America’s Cup with a team of disabled sailors; at that time I was Secretary of State for Sport in Sao Paolo. At first I was worried about it, than we met in Brazil and as it was clear these people were sharp and committed, and so we started. In March I came to Turin and now we are here in Valencia and full of hope.'

What stage is the challenge at?
Spinelli: 'The city of Turin has decided to support the project, to continue from their success at the winter Olympic Games into a new venture…the America’s Cup. The next step is to name a yacht club which will be the challenging entity that the team represents. Then, we tackle the fund raising.

Is it easier for a team of disabled sailors to find sponsors?
Spinelli: 'No. From an economic point of view there are no short-cuts, it will be as hard for us as it is for anyone. It very much depends on the company and the products they are trying to promote. It is true that the market for disabled people is big and is a growing part of the consumer market. For us it may be easier to build institutional relationships, but it will be difficult economically.'

What is your goal with this potential challenge?
Grael: 'This is not a social operation but a sporting challenge…We do not want to prove that disabled people can sail, but that we can win. So what we want to do is build a competitive team that can compete at the same level with the other teams. I am not so arrogant to think we can win the America’s Cup, I know that is extremely unlikely at a first attempt, but we want to demonstrate the possibility.

'We cannot forget that different levels of disability exist. We have to choose the right people for each role and train every single day. That’s the challenge within the challenge: to build a team that can be competitive on this kind of boat. We have time to do that.'

Will the crew consist entirely of disabled sailors?
Grael: 'Yes, this is the idea, and it will be an international project (assuming the nationality rules for the America’s Cup aren’t tightened). We are in contact with a lot of people from Italy and elsewhere. My cousin, for example, would be perfect for this challenge; he lost his eye in a motorbike crash, yet he is an excellent sailor. I have another friend who lost three fingers from a bomb explosion…'

'So we are looking for strong sailors, who can win as demonstrated by their abilities. What really matters is finding the right people for each role on board the boat.'

What about the boat? Will it be adapted in any way for disabled sailors?
Grael: 'No. When I had my incident and I lost my leg in 1998, my first thought was to adapt the boat to my problem. But I soon realised that it was me who had to adapt, not the boat.'

Before the next America’s Cup, there are the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. How are you preparing for that?
Grael: 'I’m sailing my Star class boat a lot just now. Over the next year I have a lot of regattas scheduled, so I’m quite busy with that.'

What has been the feeling inside the America’s Cup community about ideaArgo?
Grael: 'When people first hear about it, they kind of think we are crazy, but over time they are changing their minds. I know many sailors in America’s Cup world, and I’ve beaten a lot of them. Just by winning, you can command a certain level of respect. We don’t want short-cuts, just to be treated the same as everyone else.'

What is the ideaArgo message?
Grael: 'Our motto is ‘we can, you can’. We want to open the door for millions of people who, at the moment, can’t see the light.'