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Disabled Female Skipper to Compete in World Class Regatta



Kerry Gruson of Miami will be the only disabled American sailor among 8,500, coming from all over the world, to compete in the famed Skandia Cowes Week in the south of England, off the Isle of Wight. Meeting July 29 through August 5, this annual race, started in 1826, is considered one of the most prestigious sailing regattas in the world.



Kerry will be at the helm of a Sonar, a paralympic class boat, using an adaptive seating and steering system, an innovation created by Shake A Leg. It was designed/built by Jorg Pawlik of Whyditot Innovations with John Muir, both natives of Toronto. It enables Kerry to tack(change her sailing direction), while still having the option to sit on either side of the boat. This system has broad appeal and could be useful for senior sailors, no longer quite so nimble.



Her crew includes Gene Hinkel of St. Petersburg, Tom and Robin Rinda of St. Petersburg, Lianne Bookelaar-Donker of the Netherlands, and Meredith Bass of Miami.



A graduate of Harvard, Kerry Gruson, 58, was a news assistant in the Miami bureau of The New York Times from 1977 to 2005. Kerry has worked as a journalist for 36 years, the last 28 as the 's8220;news assistant's8221; at the New York Times's Miami bureau. She retired this past August. Kerry, who suffers from anoxia, started sailing in 1991 at Shake-A-Leg Miami, a non-profit organization. She now teaches at the facility that caters to people with disabilities and disadvantaged youth. Her father, Sydney Gruson, was vice chairman of The New York Times Company.



Kerry Gruson will fly to England on Friday, July 21, at 8:10 pm on American Airlines, Flight # 56. To interview her aboard her own Sonar 's8220;BLEW BaYOU's8221; in Coconut Grove, contact Daisy Lewis at Shake-A-Leg Miami, 305-858-5550 ext.111 or 786-399-9669 (cell) or Lisa Sedelnik, 305-648-2984.



Shake-A-Leg is a non-profit organization with an exceptionally broad mandate and a far-reaching constituency. Even as it succeeds in its original purpose to foster lifelong independence and quality of life for people with disabilities, disadvantaged and at-risk youth, it has evolved into a much more diverse entity: namely, to serve the entire South Florida community and eventually communities from all over the United States and beyond.



Today, Shake-A-Leg mentors the mind, body and soul of both adults and kids, introducing them to the arts, multimedia, computers, dance and, of course the water. We are also a Coastal Community Center with healthy activities that virtually everybody 's8211; old and young, rich and poor 's8211; can enjoy: sailing, kayaking, vocational training, and more. Shake-A-Leg is a national educational and recreational home for kids, an internationally renowned host of sailing regattas, cultural events, and, by the time you read this, even more than that. Our mission is constantly expanding, our volunteers are energized and, with the help of our sponsors, our aim is to do nothing less than change the world.






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