He and his sailing partner, Maureen Mckinnon-Tucker, earned perfect scores during the early races of the event, securing a gold medal in the SKUD-18 class. The pair’s scores were so high they didn’t have to sail in the final races at Qingdao, but Scandone still wanted to be a part of the regatta.
Scandone sailed that day, displaying the American flag from the stern of the boat.
“If you’ve got to have last sail, this was a good way to do it — flying your country’s flag,” Mary Kate Scandone said.
Mary Kate Scandone believes her husband knew this was to be his final day on the water.
“It was bittersweet. This is what he had to live for,” she said. “It took every ounce of him to do this. I don’t thing people really realized how hard it was for him to do this. He had the courage and got up as much strength as he could and made it happen.”
Scandone had lost the use of his legs by the time of the regatta and his arms were getting weaker, but he had already managed to outlive his life expectancy by more than two years.
In 2002, Scandone was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a debilitating, neurodegenerative disease. The disorder causes muscles to weaken and atrophy. Most patients die within three to five years from the onset of the disease.
“Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he said ‘I’m going to get busy living instead of get busy dying,’” Mary Kate Scandone said. “When you get out on the water, you don’t need your legs. It was where he felt the most free — he didn’t feel disabled.”
A group of sailors from Balboa Yacht Club took Scandone’s one-man sabot and filled it with flowers at the yacht club after he died.
