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A Peek at the Paralympics

By Christine Weaver | September 14, 2016 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Paralympic sailors are just like us — they mill about as the ‘cat in the hat’ flies from the startline boat, indicating a postponement.

© Will Ricketson / US Sailing

All three sailing classes in the Paralympics were deviled by light air on the second day, yesterday, in Rio. After being cleared to launch shortly after 2:00 p.m., each class attempted one race. The Sonars and SKUD-18s completed each their race, but the 2.4mR contest was canceled midway through due to lack of wind.

At the age of 18, UCSB student and athlete Ryan Porteous slipped on a boat dock and broke his neck. After rehab, he teamed up with gold medalist Maureen McKinnon, who took up sailing as an adult, originally racing in the Sonar class.

© Will Ricketson / US Sailing

On the SKUD-18 course, first-time Paralympian Ryan Porteous of San Diego and Beijing 2008 gold medalist Maureen McKinnon found themselves gliding across glassy waters in the two-person keelboat. "We had a really nice spot on the starting line, but everyone to the right of us just lifted away," said Porteous, a physics student at UC Santa Barbara. Porteous and McKinnon finished that race sixth, and stand in fifth place overall. The Australian team of Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch leads the class.

A career professional, Dee Smith now sails the diminutive 2.4-meter singlehanded Paralympic boat.

© Will Ricketson / US Sailing

Monday’s racing fared better, with 10 knots of breeze. Former Marinite Dee Smith won the second race and finished the day in third place. After today’s first race, Smith sits in sixth place overall, with gold medalist Helena Lucas of the UK topping the leaderboard. Lucas won gold in the 2.4mR in the 2012 Paralympics.

Competition in the three-person Sonars.

© Will Ricketson / US Sailing

The American Sonar sailors, Alphonsus Doerr, Hugh Freund and Bradley Kendell, are in fifth place after four races, with the Aussies (Colin Harrison, Russell Boaden and Jonathan Harris) leading the 11-boat field.

Three races are planned for today. The calendar calls for competition to continue through Saturday, with medals to be awarded that day. The full schedule of races and a viewing guide are available here. Unfortunately, NBC is not planning any live coverage of the sailing events, and recap programming is still a question mark, but fans can follow the races via live tracker and check the results here.

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