AIDS Sailors Help Keep Hope Afloat

Welcome home and hearty congratulations to the skipper and crew of the good ship Survivor after their 10-day, 2,200-mile ocean crossing to Hawaii that proves even an AIDS diagnosis is no excuse to slow down.

Ojai Valley resident Robert Hudson, 36, and his organization, Get Challenged, assembled the crew of seven men and two women who are either HIV-positive or, like him, have full-blown acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Their participation in the biennial Transpacific Yacht Race was the first in what Hudson hopes will be a series of events that will raise the image of people with HIV or AIDS and raise money for research.

“The home team actually crossed the finish line,” said Hudson, who expected to return home this weekend. “We feel that we earned the respect of the rest of the sailing community--it wasn’t given to us. They weren’t too sure about us at first but they cheered us as we crossed the line.”

Never an easy crossing, this one was made more difficult by the relative inexperience of half the crew and the lack of a moon.

“The dangerous part was racing through the night. You couldn’t even see a foot in front of you,” Hudson said. Heavy winds blew out four of the five spinnakers they carried and one late-night jibe left them with a perilously bent boom.

There were cold moments, wet moments, sleep-deprived moments and more. But at the end, the Survivor arrived triumphant.

And last week new federal statistics showed a 19% decline in AIDS deaths, accelerating a decline reported earlier this year, especially among white males.

While much work remains to be done, progress in prevention as well as treatment is beginning to turn the tide.

And aboard the Survivor, Hudson and company were providing an inspiration to people everywhere with the disease. And to the rest of us too.