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Rollover test successful for Ascensia

John Dennis ready for Around Alone

samedi 27 juillet 2002Redaction SSS [Source RP]

The same determination and ingenuity that helped John Dennis (Toronto, Canada) through today’s grueling 4 1/2 rollover test for his 50-foot yacht Ascensia, will see him through the challenges of competing in the 28,000 mile Around Alone global sailing race that starts this September.

The first-ever diabetic skipper to enter, Dennis is being sponsored by Ascensia, the new brand name for Bayer self-management monitors and services for people with diabetes. The rollover is a dramatic test in which the boat, with its skipper sealed inside, is turned completely upside down in the water as part of the certification requirements for the race.

It took Dennis 3 1/2 hours longer than expected to re-right his boat through a process that involved manually pumping seawater into water ballast tanks inside the boat. "I had thought it would go faster, but I never got discouraged," said Dennis. "Like my diabetes, it was something I had to overcome, and now I’m one step closer to the start of the race."

Dennis will leave Wednesday from Newport, R.I. to begin his 2100-mile transatlantic qualifying sail to the Azores.

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1 : Initial Rollover. 2 : Re-righting
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3 : final Re-righting. 4 : Head shot Dennis
Photos : Billy Black


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