I am a 45 year old male who was diagnosed with MS a year ago. I need some helpful info and expertise on my fund raising regatta(sp?). I want to sail from Palm Beach FL to Washington DC this summer to pitch congress on medical reform and advocacy for Multiple Sclerosis patients. I was a very active, adventerous, athletic individual before this disease took me in. I still got fight in me and I want to sail and bring with me other sailing partners to create awareness and advocacy for MS. Never really sailed any further than Palm Beach to the Florida keys but I am determined to go farther. The excursion this summer is just a warm up to the winter trip which will be much farther and a bit more extensive. I plan to retire on the boat, sailing from place to place, raising awareness and moneys for MS. My question is what type of boat, I am on a limited budget, do I get to start and continue with an excursion of this type. Close quarters is not so much of a problem as being able to hadle the vessel with a one or two man crew. Need the boat draft to be good enough to go in shallower waters and so on. I have a lot of questions and need others to sail with me for support. If you feel you can add or help me-please email me at bstoyka@earthlink.net. I do have a few sponsors to help with some of the costs. We will have the brochure and details in just a couple of weeks. The sponsors are deciding on what they can contribute and comming up with logo art, themes, etc. Thanks so much-Sailors are really good people. Robert Stoyka Palm Beach Gardens-FL bstoyka@earthlink.net