Maureen McKinnon-Tucker

If you watched the finish of Race 14 at the 2007 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials, you may not have understood the scene unless you had done the math. When SKUD-18 sailors Maureen McKinnon-Tucker and skipper Nick Scandone crossed the finish line to capture their eleventh first-place finish at the Trials, a wave of emotion rolled over the course. Their coach boat, full with friends and family aboard, erupted in cheers and waves; McKinnon-Tucker broke down and cried; even Scandone was teary eyed. There was still another day of racing left, but this duo had sailed so well that they were mathematically untouchable before the final day of racing.

This Trials win, which earned Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker their first berth to the Paralympic Games, was a personal triumph for both racers who had overcome great obstacles. In the ‘90s, McKinnon-Tucker fell 13 feet off a seawall and became paralyzed. In 2002, Scandone was diagnosed with ALS, known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a condition reported to have a median life expectancy of three years. And for McKinnon-Tucker, this win was also history-making: she now earned the mantle of being the first woman to represent the United States in sailing at the Paralympic Games.

McKinnon-Tucker learned to sail when she was 20, when she met her then-boyfriend, now-husband Dan Tucker. Her husband raced J/24 sailboats, and she started to compete. After her accident, McKinnon-Tucker tried racing again. But the J/24s she once sailed were too challenging; the Freedom 20s designed for individuals with disabilities were too tame.

She gave up sailing for a while, until a chance meeting with Paralympic skipper Rick Doerr, who invited her aboard his triplehanded Sonar as crew. The Sonar was a good fit—and McKinnon-Tucker, Doerr, and crew Tim Angle campaigned for the 2004 Paralympics. But after a third place at the Trials, McKinnon-Tucker moved on to the SKUD—a doublehanded, performance dinghy making its Paralympic debut at the '08 Games. She connected with Scandone, and their pairing had a certain electricity: they blazed top finishes in a series of events before earning a spot on the Paralympic team. 

But Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker would face more challenges in the final leg of training before the Games. At US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR, a key opportunity to spar against an international fleet of top SKUD racers, both sailors were grappling with turbulent upsets in their lives. Scandone had recently lost his father-in-law; McKinnon-Tucker's two-year-old son had been diagnosed with cancer and would soon be undergoing chemotherapy. Still, they won the OCR in the same convincing manner as the Trials.

“We can both compartmentalize our lives,” says McKinnon-Tucker of their ability to focus in the midst of unsettling times. “Sometimes, it is easier to navigate on the racecourse than to navigate in life.”

Many who meet McKinnon-Tucker are in awe of her fortitude. “I have more determination than brains,” she laughs. But her dogged pursuit of a Paralympic medal may not be an approach limited only to her sailing—for when it comes to life's challenges, she seems to take them head-on, forging ahead despite uncertain winds.

SIGNIFICANT SAILING ACHIEVEMENTS:

Becoming the first woman to be a member of the US Disabled Sailing Team and the first woman to represent the United States in Paralympic sailing

SAILING RESUME:

2008
1st US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR/Miami, Florida

2007
1st U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Sailing/Newport, Rhode Island
1st Sperry Top-Sider Marblehead NOOD Regatta/Marblehead, Massachusetts
2nd IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship/Rochester, New York
3rd C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta/Newport, Rhode Island

2006
1st US SAILING Pre-Trials/Newport, Rhode Island
2nd C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta/Newport, Rhode Island
2nd Land's End Marblehead NOOD Regatta/Marblehead, Massachusetts