Impossible Dream helps disabled sailors
Wheelchair-accesible boat to sail 6,000 miles this summer
NEWPORT — From the cruelest circumstances come the most generous and selfless acts. A group of disabled individuals with an interest in sailing have spent the last few decades making boating more accessible to people who thought that that world was completely shut off to them.
Mike Browne first created the Impossible Dream - a wheelchair-accessible boat - so he could sail independently. After a decade of running the program, Browne decided to team up with Deborah Mellen to further spread his love of sailing.
Mellen acquired the Impossible Dream from Browne, and turned to her friend, Harry Horgan, CEO of Shake-A-Leg Miami, a not-for-profit that aims to make water-based activities more accessible. The boat calls Horgan’s facility home in the offseason, and he has worked tirelessly to help grow the initiative.
“It was always a dream to have a big, flagship boat,” Horgan said. “A friend and fellow paraplegic Deborah Mellen, she had gone to sail with a friend, another paraplegic, and after that she called me and said let’s do this project together. She found the boat, put up the money, financed it.
“My role has been developing the project. We’re using the boat as an ambassador of what is possible. We’ve been travelling up and down the coast, this will be the third summer.
“Taking people out for boat rides and showing them how design and technology really can make boating accessible, and how being on the water can make you feel better.”
The trailblazing campaign made a local stop this week in Newport. On Thursday, a fundraiser was held at Dockside Scarpetta’s Restaurant of Newport. The featured guests were worldrenowned sailing father-and-son combo Jerry and Rome Kirby. While historical records are far from complete for the 163 year old event, it is believed that the Kirby’s are the only father and son to both win the America’s Cup.
“I grew up with Jerry,” Horgan said. “Really, Jerry has been an inspiration to me my whole life. I went and visited him out in California in 1992, when he was part of the America’s Cup campaign, the America Cubed. They just transformed an old run-down boatyard, and turned it into this state-of-the-art facility. Just stayed on course and won. That was my source of inspiration that we could do the same thing here in Miami.”
Seeing how the elder Kirby started with a barebones facility and work his way up to winning the highest honor in the yachting world led Horgan to found Shake-A-Leg. Horgan acquired an old Coast Guard seaplane base in Miami and converted it into a community boating center that has proved integral in the success of the Impossible Dream program.
“This summer we will sail a total of 6,000 miles from Miami to Quebec City,” Horgan said, of a trip that features 19 stops in various ports of call this August alone. “On the different legs, we invited people with varying disabilities to come on board.
“We took President [George H.W.] Bush and [first lady] Barbara out. He drove the boat for over an hour. We offer the opportunity to everyone to drive the boat. That’s always a big thrill, whether they’re nine years old or 90 like the president. A lot of people just like sitting on the boat, feeling the breeze in their face and relaxing. The people in wheelchairs didn’t think they could do it, never believed they could go out on a boat.”
Horgan found himself in the same metaphorical boat once upon a time. After a childhood spent playing and learning in the Rhode Island waters, Horgan was involved in a life-altering car accident right after he had graduated from Providence College. He made the conscious decision to not let his new physical disability get in the way of his dreams.
“I grew up in Newport,” he said. “From my earliest memories, I was going to the beach every summer, my grandfather was rowing us in a boat. I took sailing lessons at 12. We did a lot of water-skiing in Narragansett Bay.
“In 1980, I broke my back. Rehab was okay, we’re done, go get yourself a job now. Emotionally it was very tough. I started Shakea-Leg as a place to bring people together, to share their challenges. The phrase at Shake-aLeg is get up and do something, don’t wait for someone to do it for you.”
Thursday night’s fundraiser helped Impossible Dream continue to give hope to those with physical and mental disabilities. Jerry Bowman of the 1992 America’s Cup winning team, and Rome, a recent winner with the Oracle team that overcame a massive 8-1 deficit, are fitting guests of honor, says Horgan.
“Jerry’s always been there throughout our existence to help us navigate as we’ve grown the program. Then to see Rome, this little kid, follow in his father’s footsteps and catapult to new heights, the only American on the Oracle team. They’re an example of what’s possible.”
“This summer we will sail a total of 6,000 miles from Miami to Quebec City.” – Harry Horgan