This seems to be the year of not-sport. First there was the not-skiing. In February I was booked to go skiing in the States for the first time since my accident. The flight was cancelled because of the snowstorms in the UK. Then there's the not-water-skiing. Today I was due to have a day of water-skiing at Heron Lake with Backup and the British Disabled Water Ski Association. I've never tried before and was both curious about how it would work and excited at the prospect. But I couldn't go because Annika has had to unexpectedly go to London and I'm on childcare duty. Finally, the not-sailing. I was planning to go offshore sailing with the Calvert Trust in a cruising yacht for a week in August. They've just called to say that the boat isn't suitable.
So instead I will be dinghy sailing in the Lake District with the Backup Trust. At the end of the week-long course I will have gained my Royal Yachting Association Level 1 and 2 qualifications. My sporting life is now mapped out for the next few years. The Calvert Trust have assured me that I will be able to join their offshore cruise in 2010. In 2011 I will be skiing in Winter Park, Colorado. And my local sailing club wants me to enter the Paralympics in 2012. I'd compete in a 2.4m, a scaled down version of the boats that race in the America's Cup. To sail in the Paralympics would be a dream come true though, given my limited ability, very unlikely. It would also be following family footsteps. My grandfather competed in the Helsinki Olympics, as well as racing in the America's Cup. Here's hoping for a miracle.
