Let’s do the 2013 Transpac

What began as an impossible  dream in 1991 (to do the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu), is now a reality at the San Diego-based Challenged America program of sailors with disabilities.

With a crew of six disabled sailors in 2003, aboard their (donated) Tripp 40 sailboat “B’Quest” , Team Challenged America made history in being the first disabled crew to do this legendary 2,225 nautical mile race, and repeated the adventure across the Pacific Ocean again in 2005.

Today, 2013, with more than 30 candidates from around the world vying for a crew position, but due to limited funding to accommodate a full crew and attract a larger, donated sailboat, two disabled veterans, David Hopkins and Urban Miyares, will be racing, double-handed, aboard Team Challenged America’s Tripp 40 sailboat in the Transpac.

Much in modifications and an adaptations are required of “B’Quest” to safely and comfortably accommodate this two-person crew,  advancing rehabilitation further in the design and layout for future offshore racing and sailing vessels crewed by sailors with disabilities, or those who become physically impaired while at sea.

Challenged America was created by disabled veterans in 1978 to self-direct and advance one’s own rehabilitation, and today hundreds participate each year in the (no-cost) Challenged America year-round adaptive sailing program.

Challenged America is a therapeutic program of the charitable and educational, volunteer-driven, 501c3, Disabled Businesspersons Association (DBA).  Your support will help make dreams a reality for thousands of kids, adults and veterans with disabilities, and their loved ones..  All donations, contributions and gifts are tax-deductible to the full extent the law allows.

To make a tax deductible donation, click here

Thank you Chris Carstens and Nine Towers for the video