Our new President Andy Cassell was born without legs and hip joints but this has not stopped him from becoming a top-class racing sailor with a career spanning 50 years. For most of Andy's sailing career he never sailed as a disabled sailor but as the tide turned towards making disability more acceptable the Paralympic sailing grew and Andy was asked to compete, going on to win a Gold Medal in Atlanta. Andy has formed his own Foundation dedicated to getting disabled people out on the water and racing - the Foundation is called the Andrew Cassell Foundation. More recently the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club and the Andrew Cassell Foundation put on a regatta for Paralympic teams from all over the world to give them the opportunity to practise for the Sail for Gold Regatta being held at the RYA Olympic Sailing Centre at Weymouth. John Robertson and his team of Hanna and Mike (he has 2 below knee limbs) won both events.

This prompted Andy to think about putting together another British team, possibly with 2 of the many lads who have lost limbs in the Iraq or Afghanistan conflicts. Some of these lads have turned or returned to sailing as a good outlet and are doing very well. These service personnel bring focus and discipline to their sport. One such person is Chris, a single amputee who lost a leg in Afghanistan. He has just completed a course at the UKSA and is seeking to make a new career in sailing. Recently Andy was asked to send a DVD of his Paralympic Campaign to another casualty of this war who has lost legs - Harry. Harry's father is a senior member of the Armed Forces currently serving in Afghanistan.

As for Andy's own sailing adventures this year, they were interrupted by some unfortunate accidents. The first occurred whilst competing in a charity race for the IOW Hospice (his boat raised nearly £700) Andy fell over in the cockpit whilst answering a call of nature at the same time that the boat was rounding St. Catherine's Point. Andy fractured a rib or two but with the help of several painkillers managed to steer the boat back to Cowes.

Whilst the ribs were mending nicely he then managed a first overall in the Sports Boat Class as well as a First in the Sonar Class when he took 'Jenny' (a sonar) out in the Round the Island Race. Andy also sailed 'Jenny' regularly for the ISC Tuesday Evening series and won the Sonar Class for this series.

Andy's other 'work' is as a sailmaker, and with this he became involved in racing a lot of different boats and this year it was a Swan 46, for which he had made sails. He was asked to take the helm of this boat for the Swan European Championships which were held in Cowes. They started in a winning position but finally finished 4^th overall.

Then things took a turn for the worse a week before Cowes Week when Andy managed to fall off the CCYC bridge. He fell 9 feet onto the pontoon below before rolling off into the water and ending up with mild concussion and a chunk out of one of his lower vertebrae, and a pair of very soggy legs! It was a nasty experience and Andy was very grateful to all those who came swiftly to his aid and to the medical attention he has received. It did, of course, put paid to racing in Cowes Week and the 650 mile Fastnet Race. Being Andy this did leave more time for socialising which with the aid of strong painkillers he managed very successfully. This social activity included hosting a party for the Toe in the Water guys at the CCYC. This Charity is set up for injured servicemen, an off shoot from Help for Heroes that specialises in running sailing programmes for them. They had a great night and during 2010 Andy and the CCYC hope to run a regatta for the Toe in the Water Charity together with RYA Sailability, who support sailed for all disabled people.

If you are interested in joining in any of these activities or would like a DVD of my Paralympic Campaign then please contact me. I can be reached on iowampsug@googlemail.com.