Gene Hinkel of the United States is a key figure in the world of sailing.

Hinkel has been involved with sailing for persons with a disability since 1994 when he became chairman of the committee that oversees the sailing centre at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in Florida.

For the first two years of his involvement in sailing, Hinkel spent 35 weekends a year working with different sailing teams and developing benches and seats for use in their Sonars.

Hinkel also coached John Ross-Duggan (United States), bronze medalist in the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games, and introduced Serge Jorgensen (united States) to Ross-Duggan. Jorgenson is now the President of IFDS (International Association for Disabled Sailing).

Other key sailing figures have also benefitted from Hinkel mentoring skills.

Dror Cohen, Arnon Efrati and Benny Vexler (Israel) won the gold medal at Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, and to express their thanks they presented a heavy bronze medal to Hinkel with the inscription "Until we meet in Jerusalem."

"Apparently it is the only one that has been awarded to someone outside of Israel," noted a proud Hinkel.

(BOCOG September 11, 2008)