Have you ever sailed a slow boat 25 miles in four hours on a beautiful day? Congratulations to Lance Hinrichs, Josh Basile, and Patrick Rummerfield, three quadriplegics who sailed from Baltimore's Inner Harbor to Annapolis's Sandy Point today in 15-18 knots of northwesterly breeze (with gusts over 20). They ended the exhilarating sail on the Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) docks at Sandy Point State Park with a short celebration complete with cookies and lemonade.
The sailors are on a mission to Raise Funds for High-Tech Breath-Powered Sailing Controls to power accessible boats and offer more opportunities for disabled sailors. Both the Determined2Heal Foundation and Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) are working together to open Maryland’s waters to all abilities.
Hinrichs notes the benefits of the sip-and-puff system, which controls the tiller with breaths in and out, and how easily sailors with no mobility in their hands could beat him (a very good sailor) in a race. It offers disabled athletes more opportunities to get on the water--and compete.
The sailors:
Josh Basile: Paralyzed in 2004 during a beach accident at the age of 18, Josh decided early on to never let his injury slow him down. Josh founded his own nonprofit and created the internet’s largest spinal cord injury video mentoring platform (SPINALpedia.com), which has reached hundreds of thousands of people. He also graduated magna cum laude from law school and is now a barred attorney.
Lance Hinrichs: Lance was paralyzed 33 years ago from a fall while as a student at the University of Vermont. He is now a high-level quadriplegic, loving husband and father of three. He has a MBA in Finance from Columbia University and is an economist for the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He is a lifelong sailor who taught sailing before his injury, a past President of CRAB and a current board member since 2011.
Patrick Rummerfield: Injured in a car crash in 1974, Patrick was fully paralyzed below the shoulders. After years of intense physical rehabilitation he miraculously regained much of this lost movement and is recognized as the world’s first “fully recovered quadriplegic.” He still cannot feel below his knees and has limited movement in his fingers, but that has not stopped him from completing marathons around the world. He has 41 world records and firsts the Community Liaison at International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Patrick travels the world inspiring quadriplegics and the disabled to never give up hope and to pursue their dreams.
For more information please contact Josh Basile, at [email protected] or at 703-795-5711.
For more information online, please visit www.crabsailing.org orwww.determined2heal.org
