A late look at the Sonar Formbook for Qingdao

by Satellite Spy on 7 Sep 2008
Dror Cohen, Arnon Efrati and Benny Vexler (ISR) were considered to be one of the Sonar teams to beat at the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Regatta in Qingdao. They have been sailing the longest together as a team and they are the defending Gold medalists from the Athens Paralympic Sailing Regatta. The 14-boat fleet is scheduled to race 11 races. .

The Israeli crew are the most experienced Sonar crew here. Cohen and Vexler have been sailing together since 1997 and the three have been racing together as a team since 2001.

This is Vexler’s third Paralympics and Cohen and Efrati’s second.

The Israeli team won the Gold medal in Athens in 2004.

The secret to their success in Athens was Gil Yakimov (ISR), their coach. Yakimov is with them in Qingdao.

The three sailors and their coach have one goal – to return to Israel with another Gold medal.

Before the series it was expected that there would likely be two fleets of competitors in Qingdao, a group of elite teams and others who have had the funding, facilities, time, equipment or coaching to keep up with those who are putting in big efforts as the bar keeps being raised on the level of disable sailing. Some of the teams compete regularly in open class events by adding a fourth crew member and a spinnaker to the boat. The additions make sailing the Sonar more complicated and they also improve timing and crew work.

John Robertson, Stephen Thomas and Hannah Stodel (GBR) were another crew on a roll as they headed into the Paralympic Sonar competition. They won Semaine Olympic Francaise and the Sonar IFDS Qingdao International Regatta earlier this year.

Robertson/Thomas/Stodel are also riding on the coat tails of the euphoria remaining from their teammates’ four Gold, one Silver and one Bronze Olympic Sailing medals in August in Qingdao.

The team has been sailing together since 2002 and was sixth in the Sonar at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Regatta.

Current series leaders, Bruno Jourdren, Herve Larhant and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary (FRA) had strung together a series of second place finishes in the Sonar since teaming up for the 2007 IFDS World Championships in Rochester, New York.

Larhant and Vimont-Vicary have been sailing together since 2002 with different skippers. 'Something is changing,' according to Larhant since the pair recruited professional sailor Bruno Jourdren.

Jourdren, a French national champion in the Melges class and an offshore racer, arrived in Qingdao directly after winning last week’s 19-boat 1,000-mile, double-handed race from Brittany to Spain and back on his 40-foot yacht.
Jostein Stordahl, Per Eugen Kristiansen and Aleksander Wang-Hansen (NOR) are an experience Sonar team.

To hone their sailing skills, each of the team members sails 2.4Meters in addition to the Sonar.

Stordahl was at the helm of the Sonar during the Sydney Paralympics where his team finished 8th.

Paul McCarthy, Paul Ryan and Richard Martin Whealey (IRL) must be making good use of Rhino’s (Paul Ryan’s) ability to sniff out shifts, because they found a nice one that popped them into the lead during the Practice Race.

Watch the Irish team. They are relaxed, having a lot of fun and have proven that they are capable of doing well having won a very competitive Trials to qualify for the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Regatta.

Since winning the 2007 IFDS World Championships in Rochester, New York, Rick Doerr, Bill Donohue and Tim Angle (USA) have been training with one of the toughest Sonar fleets in the world.

Doerr is President of the Sonar class.

Also…

- Germany and Australia have also fielded strong teams.
- Sailing has helped many of these competitors overcome great challenges.
- Many of these passionate sailors regularly compete against able-bodied sailors.