Urban Miyares and Dave Hopkins are double handing the Transpac! They need your support!!!
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Join us at Fiddlers Green – Eat, Drink, Dance and support this amazing adventure
Date: Sunday, June 2nd
Time: 1-4 pm
Location: Fiddlers Green
Band: The Reflectors
Raffle: 2:00
Silent Auction: 3:30
Challenged America: 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.
Challenged America –Team Challenged America Transpac 2013
FIDDLERS GREEN
2760 Shelter Island Drive, SD, 92106 619-222-2216
RAFFLE & SILENT AUCTION Some Raffle Items
Action Beach & Bay Rentals, HS salon haircut, Frestone Auto Care oil change, $20 gift cards from Hodads…yum, Cabrillo pet hospital gifts, Ocean Beach Autobody detail service.. Some Silent Auction Items
Corky Mata- Have cook will Travel- $400 value, Fender Aerodyne Statocaster guitar- $700 value,(6) $150 gift cards for massage services at Lonnies Massage………
DONATIONS
You can also send your tax-deductible donation check to:
Challenged America
Sunroad Resort Marina
955 Harbor Island Drive, Suite130
San Diego, CA 92101
or donate online through PayPal
We Thank You!
To Volunteer Call:
Challenged America Office: 619-523-9318
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.
Challenged America will be in the Transpacific Yacht Race this July 8th, 2013. Urban Miyares, Co-Founder and David Hopkins, Director of Vessel & Gift Donations for the charitable Challenged America program will be double handed racing on a Tripp 40 sailboat called B’Quest. What makes their entry special is that Urban Miyares is blind, has Type 1 diabetes (and a host of other medical issues), and David Hopkins has a hearing impairment. Both of them are disabled veterans … and well seasoned sailboat racers and they intend to win this race.
Why Are They Doing This Race to Hawaii?
Urban and David are dedicated volunteers helping those with physical and hidden impairment through therapeutic sailing and racing programs. They have literally changed the lives of so many. Now they are on a quest to bring attention to Challenged America and the needs of the many fellow disabled veterans, as well as to others with disabilities and their loved ones.
A Life of Sailing After Death
Urban Miyares’ story is well-known in the veteran community. Army infantry platoon Sgt. Miyares was presumed dead during an operation in Viet Nam in 1968 and was placed in a (KIA) body bag when, after two days, a combat medic, assigned to toe-tag the dead soldiers, found him still breathing. From that extraordinary incident and for the next 45 years, Miyares’ has gone on to grow several businesses, become a world class Alpine skier, and has developed his sailing skills to be a competitive offshore racer.
Transpac: The Famous Race Across the Pacific
The Transpacific Yacht Race (Transpac) is now into its second century. This legendary race began in 1906 by the request of King David Kalakaua of the Hawaiian Islands. He felt that this race would strengthen the islands’ economic and cultural ties with the mainland. Clarence MacFarlane, a racing sailor from Honolulu, initiated the race with other sailors off the coast of San Pedro. The original starting point was to be San Francisco, but due to the earthquake and fire of 1906, just 27 days prior to the intended starting date, the starting point was changed to Point Fermin in San Pedro, California. The finish line is off the Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, Hawaii totaling 2,225 nautical miles.
The challenging race course takes competitors through a myriad of unforeseen conditions: from the cold, wet Northeastern Pacific, through doldrums, enormous seas, abundant squalls and scorching heat, to the blustery trade winds of the Molokai Channel near the finish. With their start date of July 8th, Urban & David anticipate an arrival in Honolulu of July 19 – 20, with a podium appearance, with you (hopefully) being at the dock in Hawaii for the traditional Aloha Welcome and following ceremonies. With much media coverage assured, you will also be able to follow this race on both the Challenged America website (ChallengedAmerica.org) and on the Transpacific Yacht Club’s race website (www.TranspacRace.com).
Come With Us To Hawaii.
You can be a part of the (Sponsorship) crew with David Hopkins and Urban Miyares as they make this most-challenging and demanding crossing to Hawaii. Your support will help expand the scope of this 36 year old therapeutic Challenged America adaptive sailing program to reach the lives of thousands of kids, adults, and veterans (wounded warriors) with disabilities.
Click on the link bellow for the information on Sponsoring the Challenged America Program and Urban and David in the 2013 Transpac Race to Hawaii.
2013 Transpac Team Challenged America Campaign Committee
Tom Jarvis, Cpt. Ken Guyer, John Dodge, Dave Myer, Chris Carstens, Philippe Gadeyne
P.S. Challenged America is a therapeutic and rehabilitative program of the charitable and educational (501c3) Disabled Businesspersons Association, a volunteer-driven organization enhancing the lives of thousands with disabilities each year. All support, sponsorship, gifts and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by the law. Tax-Exempt #)33-0484461, Disabled Businesspersons Association.
P.S.S. You can make your donation by sending a check to “Challenged America<” or by PayPal at ChallengedAmerica.org, or talk to someone about Sponsoring Team Challenged America in the 2013 Transpac by either emailing your contact information to or call (619) 523-9318.
When Urban Miyares was a young boy, he dreamed of sailing around the world. His entry in the 2013 Transpacific Yacht Race — a 2,225-mile ocean adventure — puts him just a little closer to accomplishing his goal.
In July, Miyares and David Hopkins will race against some of the world’s most famous sailors — and some of the largest and fastest boats — in a transpacific crossing. The race starts off Point Fermin in Los Angeles and ends off Diamond Head, east of Honolulu.
Together, the vets will shatter the concept that the race is impossible or too challenging for sailors with disabilities to complete. Sailing in the race allows the two to live the mission that Miyares’ organization is founded on: making dreams a reality.
“It’s been one of my dreams to sail around the world, so this is a preliminary for me — to see if I really can do it,” said Miyares, co-founder of Challenged America, a therapeutic sailing organization founded in 1987.
Based at San Diego’s Harbor Island, Challenged America offers year-round no-charge learn-to-sail opportunities for children, adults and veterans with disabilities. The organization uses sailing to help disabled sailors build self-confidence, develop new skills and abilities and stimulate independence.
In 2003 and 2005, Miyares competed in Transpac with Team Challenged America. This will be his first time competing double-handed: a new and welcome challenge for the San Diego resident.
Miyares, a blind and multidisabled Vietnam veteran; and Hopkins, a Navy veteran with a service-related hearing impairment, aim to finish the race in 12 days.
“We’ve been trying to attract a large boat donation for the Transpac for the past few years,” Miyares said. “And although we’ve been close to receiving some large racing vessels from 50 to 70 feet in length, we’ve decided not to wait any longer and do this race now, with our Tripp 40 B’Quest.”
Challenged America sailed on B’Quest during the 2003 and 2005 Transpac, completing the race in 13 days.
B’Quest has been hauled out at Shelter Island Boatyard, where it is undergoing major modifications in preparation for race day. The vessel will be “slimmed down,” with a telescoping bowsprit, and roller-furling and asymmetrical sails and rigging installed.
“With the quickly advancing technology of just the past few years, we will hopefully be including the latest in electronics and other devices, such as sound-output, so Urban can more comfortably handle communications and navigation,” Hopkins said. “But I’m sure Urban will have his Braille compass handy to check on our course.”
Challenged America is attempting to procure a larger vessel donation, so that more disabled sailors can compete in next year’s race. Until then, Miyares and Hopkins serve as inspiration for others.
“I have a passion for helping others understand that just because you have a disability, that doesn’t mean you can’t compete in an able-bodied world,” Miyares said. “Our program is primarily a therapy to help people get back into society, start feeling good about themselves and to show them what they are still capable of doing with their new minds and bodies.”
For more information, or to sponsor Team Challenged America in the 2013 Transpac Race, contact Urban Miyares or David Hopkins at Challenged America, 955 Harbor Island Drive, Suite 130, San Diego; (619) 523-9318; email ahoy@challengedamerica.org.
