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Press Release 05-127
Overcoming Adversity, "Challenged America" Team Finishes Strong
July 26, 2005
Overcoming their individual disabilities to complete the 2005 Transpac, a grueling, 2,225-mile yacht race from California to Hawaii, the six members of the Challenged America team arrived in Honolulu Sunday evening at 23:31:50 local time. They had raced their yacht, the B'Quest, to a ranking of fourth in its class.
B'Quest is the flagship of San Diego-based Challenged America, an organization founded by disabled Vietnam veterans to provide free sailing education and recreation rehabilitation programs to people with and without disabilities from around the world. A gift from a donor who wanted the vessel to be a part of this effort, the B'Quest has competed in many races, crewed by experienced sailors overcoming such obstacles as quadriplegia, paraplegia, neuromuscular disease, blindness and cancer.
For the 2005 Transpac, the crew worked directly with mechanical engineering students at San Diego State University (SDSU), who provided the sailors special seats and fittings for the race.
Sam Gloor, sailing coordinator for this year's Challenged America crew, praised both the students and the National Science Foundation, which supported their efforts through the Engineering Senior Design Projects to Aid Persons with Disabilities program.
"The seats developed by the students at San Diego State performed flawlessly. Some of the crew simply could not have been effective without them," said Gloor, who was a member of the Challenged America crew in an earlier Transpac.
For more information, see the NSF news release about the start of the Transpac race on July 11, 2005.
B-roll of the crew, the race, and the SDSU engineering students who helped make this possible is available.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF (703) 292-7730 jchamot@nsf.gov
Renee Haines, San Diego State University (619) 594-4298 rhaines@mail.sdsu.edu
Gail Strickland, Making Waves Studios/Challenged America (619) 218-5843 gailmakingwaves@yahoo.com
Program Contacts
Gilbert Devey, NSF (703) 292-7943 gdevey@nsf.gov
Related Websites
NSF news release for race start, July 11, 2005: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104291&org=NSF&from=news
Reports that came in from the B'Quest as they sailed: http://www.sail-world.com/challengedamerica/
General Transpac race information: http://www.transpacificyc.org/
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, its budget is $9.5 billion, which includes $3.0 billion provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 44,400 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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