Newport-Ensenada Is More Than A Race To Team CHALLENGED AMERICA


San Diego, California (April 27, 2004) -- While the 450-plus racing
sailboats and their crews focused on winning the recent Newport Beach to
Ensenada, Mexico, International Yacht Race (April 23 - 25, 2004), the
sailors with and without disabilities aboard B'Quest, the Team CHALLENGED
AMERICA forty-foot racing sailboat, had more on its mind than just racing to
Ensenada.   Their objective was to introduce offshore racing to a new crew
of sailors with disabilities and, upon arriving in Ensenada, be role models
for the kids of the Baja California Junior Sailing Association.

"Considering many of the crew were new to offshore racing, and thanks to the
accurate weather prediction by Rick Shema, 'The Weather Guy'
(www.weatherguy.com), we did great in this year's Newport-Ensenada Race,"
said Jim Halverson, Team CHALLENGED AMERICA crewmember from San Juan
Capistrano, California.  "I just had my leg amputated a little over a year
ago, and am excited to be able to race again.  Sailing is my love and
passion, and CHALLENGED AMERICA has made it possible for me and so many
others.   The Newport-Ensenada Yacht Race is surely a spectacular event,
with the hundreds of racing sailboat.  And being able to do more than just
sail to Ensenada, but to give back to the community, and especially to the
kids in Mexico, made this race very special."

Team CHALLENGED AMERICA raced in their donated and adapted Tripp 40
sailboat, B'Quest, with a crew of nine.   Surprising quite a few in the PHRF
C Division, the male and female crew of sailors having amputation, spinal
cord injury, hearing impairment, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, cancer,  and
other significant disabilities. finished with a respectable time in the
middle of their division.  .

"We were far from last, and pretty close to picking up some silver,"
Halverson said.  "With us sailing for the first time as a crew, we had some
minor sailing foul-ups that cost us time, and our mainsail definitely has
seen better days.   But It was an experience of a  lifetime.  And being
warmly welcomed and accepted by the other sailors as equal is truly what the
sailing fellowship is all about.  I'm emotional over the entire experience."

After the Newport to Ensenada Race, Team CHALLENGED AMERICA remained in
Ensenada until Sunday, where they met with kids and their coaches, Dr.
Manuel Valdez and Dr. Gerardo de la Moro (who was a crew member of Team
CHALLENGED AMERICA), of the Baja California Junior Sailing Association in
Ensenada, as an outreach of the CHALLENGED AMERICA program.  (See photo
attached.)

CHALLENGED AMERICA was founded in the late 1970's by disabled veterans to
promote and advance the sport of sailing as a rehabilitation activity for
kids and adults with disabilities.   A San Diego-based charity, CHALLENGED
AMERICA provides free learn-to-sail and advanced sailing and educational
programs year-round, attracting hundreds from around the world, each year.
For additional information, contact Captain Josh Ross, CHALLENGED AMERICA,
2240 Shelter Island Drive, Suite 110, San Diego, California, 92106, (619)
523-9318, Sailor@ChallengedAmerica.org, or visit www.ChallengedAmerica.org.

END

Photo Attached -  Team CHALLENGED AMERICA with kids from the Baja California
Sailng Association, and their coaches in Ensenada, Mexico, after the 2004
Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race.

Photo by Gregory Scott, Team CHALLENGED AMERICA