An exchange of ideas, medical advances, ideas and equipment resulting from the Paralympic competition enabled Vasileios Christoforou (Greece), a tetriplegic, to compete in the 2004 Paralympic Regatta in his home country and to further improve the seat and steering mechanism he uses in his Sonar.
Christoforou sits in the middle of his Sonar and controls the rudder that steers his boat with what looks like the upside down pedals and the chain of a bicycle. He sits in a special chair that goes back and forth from one side of the boat to the other.
In surfing the Internet, Christoforou came across a photo of the steering mechanism and chair that one of the American Sonar teams used in their boat.
Unable to re-create the complicated system with two-months' notice before the 2004 Paralympics, Christoforou contacted Gene Hinkel (United States), who is in Qingdao as the Chief Measurer for the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Regatta and has been involved in and coaching Paralympic sailing since before the Atlanta Games in 1996.
Hinkel put Christoforou in touch with Keith Burhans (United States), the chair's developer and the co-chair of the 2007 IFDS World Championships in Rochester, New York.
The Greeks hired Burhans as their technical advisor and coach and did well in the 2004 Paralympics with the chair and steering apparatus.
They have returned to the Paralympics with an all carbon fiber version of the chair and an improved steering mechanism.
Said Christoforou, "If I had not contacted Keith (Burhans), I would not be able to sail Sonar. The chair that I have in Qingdao is 13 kilograms and it is made out of carbon fiber. The one that I had in Athens was 40 kg. The steering apparatus is the same. I am grateful that Keith (Burhans) and Paul Callahan developed the system and were willing to share the technology with us, otherwise I would not be able to compete in the Sonar."
There are many pieces of equipment and prostheses being shown off at IFDS events and at the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Competition where there are 41 boats registered in the event and 37 wheelchairs registered at the hotel in the Athletes' Village. Additionally, means of arresting degenerative diseases through the use of bio-resonance and stem cell treatments are being discussed in this sporting environment.
(BOCOG September 11, 2008)