NOAP’s 1989 Independence Cup

By John Lancaster

NEWPORT, RI – Shifting, moderate breezes and bright sunshine prevailed during the five days of highly competitive, exciting racing between 32 disabled sailors in the 1989 Independence Cup. After 9 complete rounds, Dr. Carl Olsson (Larchmont, NY) and Tom Banks (Newport, RI) beat 16 two-person crews from 10 states and Canada. This extremely competitive round-robin event was sailed in 8 Freedom Independence 20’s around Olympic and modified Olympic courses.

This second annual Independence Cup was organized and hosted by the National Ocean Access Project (NOAP), a non-profit organization developing marine opportunities for persons with disabilities. Last year the event won the United States Yacht Racing Union’s One-Design Creativity Award. This year the regatta ran from August 22nd-26th and was sailed from the Sail Newport Sailing Center at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI. This Freedom Independence one-design championship was significantly expanded over the inaugural event a year ago. There were two more competitors, three more boats and four more sets of races than in 1988.

NOAP’s 1989 Independence Cup was sailed in the Freedom Independence, a Tillotson-Pearson built 20-foot sloop with an unstayed, carbon fiber mast, a fully battened main sail and a self-tending jib. The boats are specially designed for mobility-impaired sailors, with special counter-weighted seats that swing the sailor to windward during tacking.

The sailing capital of Newport provided an exciting backdrop for this unique regatta. Never without wind or boats, Newport Harbour provided plenty of both with interesting twists to throw additional challenges in front of the competitors. Towards the end of the second day of racing as 8 Independences manuevered at the starting line to start the first heat of the fifth set, the wind piped up dramatically from 10 to 18 knots out of the southwest. Five minutes into the starting sequence the wind shifted suddenly around to the north and died to less than 2 knots as thunderheads rolled into the area. The start was postponed to the following morning, and the eight boats were towed in as thunder showers threatened.

The next day, in glorious morning sunshine competitors beat to the race course against fresh northerly breezes and found the Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 anchored in the race course between Goat and Rose Islands. Needless to say, the race course was moved to the windward side of the mammoth ship. Passengers enjoyed the races from several deck levels.

It was a great week of extremely competitive sailing, but the magic of this well organized event was not just on the race course. The warm interaction, mutual realization of ability and shared accomplishment between the disabled competitors and the able-bodied volunteers did more to make the event a success than the racing. NOAP holds the Independence Cup to demonstrate that sailors with disabilities can and do sail safely, effectively and competitively. The Cup is also to stimulate interest in sailing among persons with disabilities. The regatta clearly achieved that purpose.

These sailors came from a variety of backgrounds. Among them were social workers, salesmen, attorneys, physicians, architects, boat brokers and retired persons. Their disabilities varied as much as their professions, including blindness, birth defects, paraplegia and quadriplegia due to spinal injuries, head injuries, amputation, post polio and others.

However, it was the intangible human qualities that all involved brought to the event which really made it special. The shared experiences of hustling 32 disabled sailors on and off the boats; the cook outs; the champagne reception at the Treadway Inn with Ted Turner and Gary Jobson; the friendly banter at the race tent; the awards banquet at the Treadway and informal get-togathers at many of Newport’s night spots, all provided everyone with the opportunity to break through misconceptions about disability and see one another for their humanness, contribution and ability.