Para sailor Chris made his debut at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games. For Para sailing – making its first appearance at the Paralympic Games as a demonstration sport in 1996 – the Olympic facilities in Savannah were deemed unsuitable. Instead competition would take place at the Aqualand Marina, Lake Lanier in the foothills of the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains. The location made for unpredictable sailing conditions which, in such a close fleet, translated into dramatic place changes and medals being decided in the final race.
At first the New Zealand team of 4 Para sailors: Derek Stewart, Cameron Scott, Andrew May and Chris as reserve seemed to have mastered the tricky breeze best of the 15 nations taking part in the mixed crew Sonar fleet. The Kiwis were the early leaders after pulling out a first and a second in the first two races. However, consistency was lacking from the NZ team and they surrendered their lead in race 4, dropping to third. Two more challenging races saw them drop out of the medals into 6th place.
25 years later, Chris is still very passionate about sailing and enjoys a peaceful life in the Coromandel.
