Maritime Heroes Award Winners

By Old Pulteney

We’ve named three great individuals as Old Pulteney Maritime Heroes 2014.

Old Pulteney is The Maritime Malt – born of the sea. And every year we turn to the sea to look for remarkable men and women who go beyond the call of duty to contribute their work and passion to their sailing communities and beyond. Our annual awards are now an established event in the sailing calendar and recently with the help from you, sailing clubs and US Sailing we’ve named another three great individuals as Old Pulteney Maritime Heroes 2014.

Richard Ramos and Aleef Mahmud

Medford, Massachusetts

USA 

A diving accident left Richard Ramos with a disabling spinal cord injury. He was unable to pursue his passion for sailing for a number of years until he met Aleef Mahmud, an engineer from RIT. Together they created an aparatus which allowed Richard to get on the water once again.

Richard commented:

“The technology that Aleef and I constructed gave me the opportunity to sail once again after years without being able. I hope that it has inspired those who suffer from similar disabilities that anything is possible. I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to Old Pulteney and US Sailing for sponsoring this prestigious award.”

Aleef spoke about the technical capabilities of the new system:

“I am overjoyed to hear that Richard and I have been named the 2014 Maritime Heroes. This new adaptive sailing system will allow paralyzed and injured members of our community to sail once again. The system, which works via a secured seat mounted on a circular track to allow rotation, will allow the user to control the tiller of the boat through a bi-directional crank and series of lines that is controlled by the sailor.”

Gerry Hughes

Glasgow

UK 

The UK recepient of the Old Pulteney Maritime Heroes Award 2014, Gerry Hughes, was nominated by the Clyde Cruising Club for his outstanding service.

Born profoundly deaf, Gerry started sailing as a child and at the age of fourteen set himself a goal of circumnavigating the globe.