Urban Miyares, a Vietnam vet, is totally blind, suffering from diabetes, has several organ transplants, and a whole number of medical issues, including severe nerve damage in his lower extremities making him a walking paraplegic. He is also the current president and co-founder of the adaptive sailing program Challenged America. He and his crew David Hopkins will be racing this July from Los Angelos to Honolulu in the Transpac Race in the double-handed division aboard their Tripp 40 B’Quest. This is not the first Transpac race in which Challenged America sailors have competed. Miyares comments “We’ve taken her two times before on Transpac, 2003 and 2005, with a crew with disabilities. We’ve modified the boat quite a bit for the different disabilities; we’ve added quite a bit of weight, and this time we’re going to take the boat again.” The Challenged America program is dedicated to introduce sailing as a therapeutic and rehabilitative enhancing activity to individuals with disabilities, their loved ones, and professionals in healthcare and rehabilitation.

A short video about Challenged America: Challenged America March 2013