Italian Antonio Spinelli is the driving force behind the Argo Challenge, a bold and ambitious campaign to assemble an international squad of disabled sailors to participate in both the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup competitions during AC38, with a stretch goal of competing in next year’s three scheduled AC40 preliminary regattas against the full America’s Cup teams.
Spinelli – a past ski instructor who works as a volunteer in an organisation that encourages people with disabilities to get involved in sport – led the first iteration of the Argo Challenge back in 2006 when he and Brazilian double Olympic bronze medallist Lars Grael put together a crew of able-bodied and disabled sailors with the goal of competing in the America’s Cup.
Although that campaign did not ultimately come to fruition – in some part because of the hiatus caused by the Oracle Team USA v Alinghi lawsuit – the team acquitted themselves well, and notably performed credibly in the Voiles de St Tropez and the Maxi World Championship in Sardinia.
Now, almost 20 years on, Spinelli is drumming up support for a second tilt at involving disabled sailors in the America’s Cup. The revival of his dream has come about largely because of the introduction of the AC40 foiling monohull, which is raced by a crew of four sailors who all remain seated during racing and control the boat using steering wheels and push button controls.
After watching the AC40s racing in the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup events during the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, Spain last year, Spinelli saw the potential for crews of disabled sailors to compete on a level playing field.
“The main idea is to participate in the Youth America’s Cup and the Women’s America’s Cup, and – if the teams agree – to participate in the preliminary events in the AC40.
Earlier this year he contacted Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton about the possibility of the Argo Challenge participating in the Youth and Women’s events during AC38.
“He told me he would be very happy if the Argo Challenge could achieve this goal, but that the America’s Cup Partnership Agreement would need to be signed first,” Spinelli said. Suffice it to say that one of the first messages Dalton received after last week’s historic signing of the ACP was from Spinelli.
Meanwhile, the Argo campaign has received the public support of Lars Grael and German two-time Paralympic medallist Heiko Kroger.
Grael lost a leg in a horrific incident during the Brazil Tornado National Championship in 1998 when a drunken speedboat driver collided with his boat. Remarkably, Grael – the brother of five-time Olympic medallist Torben Grael and uncle of two-time Olympic gold medallist Martine – went on to win the coveted Star world championship title in 2015.
“There is no shortage of high-level male and female sailors with disabilities, so with adequate training, there is a possibility of being competitive,” said Grael. “With the exclusion of sailing from the Paralympic Games, there is no longer a high-level stage for disabled sailors. Argo Challenge also wants to promote this. As always, Argo will have all my support!"
Likewise, Kroger – who won Paralympic gold at Sydney 2000 in the 2.4mR before going on to take silver at London 2012 and is 2.4mR class president – is fully behind the new Argo Challenge campaign.
"The Argo Challenge to the America's Cup can become a great reality,” he said. "We fully support this idea and in our class there are several sailors with disabilities who could be part of the team. After all, we are used to being in a cockpit and steering the boat using only our hands. With adequate preparation one can also be competitive."
For those who question whether a squad of disabled sailors without previous AC40 experience can hope to master the skills required to race an AC40 at the highest level, Spinelli has this simple response:
“We will do what everyone else did. We will select a number of sailors and they start to train on the simulator. Then you can choose the best ones. In the 2.4mR class and the other disabled classes there are lots of good sailors. We need to give them at least six months of training – and then we can have a good crew.
“We talked with Cecco Bruni (Luna Rossa helmsman in the last two America’s Cups) and other coaches in the AC40 and the opinion is that with a group of sailors with a good level and with four to six months of training you can be competitive (and being competitive is important for us). He said that you just need a clever brain and two good hands and you can sail an AC40.”
Aside from getting the approval to enter international teams in the Youth and Women’s events and being green-lighted to compete with a mixed gender team in the AC38 preliminary events, Spinelli also faces a daunting fundraising challenge – to say nothing of the thorny issue of finding an AC40 to compete in.
“The cost of renting a boat is very high for some reason and as you might imagine we need extra time to train so that we can compete at a competitive level. Just to challenge for the Youth America’s Cup requires a budget of three million euros – then you can add more or less 1.5 million euros for each of the other events.”
“We have a very good relationship with a team in the America’s Cup and it could be that they can help us with the boat,” he explained. “I cannot say which team that is – other than it is not Luna Rossa. We will have to see what happens, but we have our fingers crossed about that. It would make a big reduction in the cost compared to renting a boat.”
It’s hard to see how supporting an international crew of disabled sailors to compete in the America’s Cup could not at least be worthy of consideration by corporate organisations around the world.
After the crushing blow of sailing being excluded from the Paralympic Games, success for the Argo Challenge would undoubtedly give a much-needed boost to the disabled racing community.
It would also be a massive coup for sailing. Which other sport has disabled sailors competing in one of their very highest level competitions – and on a level playing field with the very best able-bodied athletes?
One thing is for sure the level of support for a disabled team in the America’s Cup would be off the charts spectacular and the Argo Challenge would instantly become everyone’s favourite America’s Cup team.
With the ACP now signed and the preliminary events set to begin in May of next year time is very much of the essence if Spinelli’s twenty-year dream is to finally become a reality.
So, if you think you can help then use the button below to reach out to him directly.
