Parasailor aiming for gold
A Kaikohe sailor is determined to win at his first Olympics.
Chris Sharp is a man on a mission - he is heading to the Rio Paralympics with one goal in mind, a gold medal.
As part of a three-man sailing team, Sharp will compete with former Team New Zealand strategist Richard Dodson and Andrew May in the three-person keelboat (Sonar) event.
‘‘We are going over there with one singular hope, we are not just going to wet our lunch,’’ he says.
‘‘We are going for the gold medal and heading over there with that expectation.’’
The team will fly out on September 4 with the regatta to begin on September 12.
Sharp, who was raised in Kaikohe and Opito Bay, was left a paraplegic after a motorcycle accident six years ago.
He says returning to sailing after the accident having been involved in the sport for most of his life has facilitated an awareness that there aren’t any barriers for him.
‘‘I had just created a barrier in my head.
‘‘The physical barriers are able to be overcome.’’
Sharp says it is enormously special to be able to continue sailing despite his accident.
‘‘It is kind of like winning lotto every time I wake up.’’
The only New Zealand para crew going to Rio has been sailing whenever the weather allows and has also been training alongside the Australian team.
Sharp says very little gives the boat away as being sailed by paraathletes.
Sharp has been in the team for two years and is extremely excited to have a family support crew of eight joining him in Rio.
‘‘I am extremely humbled by that support.
‘‘I grew up in Kaikohe and Opito Bay so had both a seaside upbringing and a town upbringing.’’
This includes his mother Yvonne, his wife, their four children and two of their children’s partners.
‘‘I won’t get to see them much but to have my family going, it’s incredible.’’
Yvonne says she is looking forward to heading over for the duration of the paralympics.
‘‘I am absolutely thrilled with his achievements.’’
Para-sailors are classified depending on the severity of their impairment, with seven points indicating the least severe down to one which is the most severe eligible impairment.
For the three-person keelboat event each crew is only allowed a maximum of 14 points so there is no advantage or disadvantage.
‘‘We are going over there with one singular hope, we are not just going to wet our lunch.’’
Chris Sharp