Ten Times Paralympic Gold Medallist Lee Pearson CBE tries his hand at sailing with Helena Lucas MBE

http://www.britishsailingteam.com Ever wondered how two Paralympic gold medallists from completely different sports would fare if they traded places for the day? We decided to put it to the test by inviting Lee Pearson, a ten-time Equestrian Paralympic gold medallist, down to Weymouth and Portland for a day of 2.4mR sailing. Pearson, who was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita - leaving his matchstick limbs bent and warped, has won three gold medals at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and a gold, silver and bronze at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. After meeting and becoming good friends with London 2012 Paralympic gold medallist Helena Lucas at a day out at Wimbledon in 2012, the pair decided it would be a fantastic opportunity to trade places for a day in their respective sports. Luckily for Lucas, Pearson was first up and spent the day down on the south coast at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy where he was introduced to 2.4mR sailing by the British Sailing Team's Paralympic champion. After an entertaining hour of getting Pearson kitted out in his dry suit, the Equestrian superstar took to the water in the single handed 2.4mR keelboat for his first taste of Paralympic sailing. "Lee got on really well in the 2.4mR," enthused Lucas. "He picked it up pretty quick and was super keen to learn - he was like a little sponge, he just absorbed so much information in such little time! I think he is now hooked which is great! We just need to get him a boat which is slightly more adapted to him and his needs but I can certainly see him coming back down to Weymouth and Portland again. "Having won ten gold medals at the Paralympic Games is an unbelievable achievement and it was clear to see his competitive streak out on the water. He is already talking about racing the 2.4mR and had me explaining the racing rules of sailing. It was clear to see his determination to learn from the start. "Obviously with Equestrian-- a lot of it is based around feel and I think sailing is very similar to that. I could see Lee had the feel for it from the off and was able to sense when the boat was going fast, when it heeled up and how it felt so you could definitely see the competitive side but also that natural feel and talent when in a sporting environment. "As it was his first time in a 2.4mR -- the only other slight challenge was figuring out how the best way to get Lee into the boat and the best way to make him feel the most comfortable. Once we had sorted that it was pretty much plain sailing from there -- Lee definitely enjoyed his experience which just goes to show that anyone from any sport can have a go at sailing and that the skills used in other sports are easily transferred into sailing." Read more here: http://www.rya.org.uk/britishsailingteam/features/Pages/TradingPlaces--PartOne.aspx