Blind Sailing Australia
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Blind Sailing Australia |
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blindsailingaustralia.org
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June 13, 2012 Blind Sailing Team updateDear all As many of you are aware, the Blind Sailing team, consisting of Erin McGlew and myself with our coach Justin Kelleher, are heading to Italy this week to represent Australia in the IFDS Blind Match-Racing Championships in Lovere. The championships runs from 18-24 June, and there will be teams representing Australia, Spain, USA and Italy. The regatta will utilise acoustic buoys and tack indicators, and all competitors will be blind-folded to ensure that no one has a sight advantage. Italy stepped in to run the championships at the last minute when the original organisers were unable to continue hosting the event. As a result, the date was brought forward by three months and the team configuration was changed. This reduced the amount of time we had to prepare, and meant that we had to begin training as a two-person, rather than a three-person team. Our campaign would not have been possible without the invaluable support of the Royal Perth Yacht Club, Sailability WA, and a core group of volunteers. We would especially like to thank Lindsay Silbert and Jonathon Clough for generously making their boats available for us to use while training. We would also like to acknowledge the enormous support offered by Graham White, Tony Strickland, Ryan Honschooten, Gary Griffiths, Hunter Gillies, Justin Kelleher and the many other volunteers who made our campaign possible. We are indebted to our sponsors the Blind Sporting Council, the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation, and Aldo Seppilli of Slow Tasters Pty Ltd. Without their generous financial support we would not have been able to attend this championships. We are looking forward to the challenge of the championships, and will update you on our results when we can. Thank you all once again for your support, encouragement and faith in us over the years. |
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Latest News January 2011 Last Call for Entries IFDS Championships >> Details << December 2010 New Format for Bllind Match Racing Debuts in Perth March 2011 IFDS Blind Mathc Racing Championships Join the blindsailinggroup discusion group
Australian Blind Sports Federation
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Vickie Sheen (GBR) wins Blind Match Racing Championship>> Click Here for the Latest News <<or visit the Royal Perth Yacht Clubs Website
Seven teams from five nations will compete at the IFDS Disabled Sailing International Championship, 2011, Homerus Blind Match Racing. RPYC will host the event with racing on the Swan River from March 19 to 26. Italy’s Luigi Bertanza, winning helmsman in the 2010 IFDS Blind Match Racing World Championships on Lake Garda, has teamed with Alessandro Malapiero and Elisabetta Bardella for the Perth event. Malapiero and Bardella were second placed in the B2 division of the 2010 championship. The Italian Homerus organisation has developed the Autonomous Blind Match Racing discipline and has enabled this team to build their training and competition experience over several years. The UK have two teams competing. Winners of the B2 division of the 2010 championship on Lake Garda, Lucy Hodges and Toby Davey, have been joined by Sharon Grennan on the helm. This is another experienced crew, with Hodges on the podium at the 2009 IFDS Blind Sailing World Championships in the fleet racing discipline. Vicki Sheen, Nicholas Dunnini and Dennis Mannering are the second UK team – another group of seasoned competitors. As a helmsperson, New Zealand’s Paulien Eitjes has won Homerus International Match Racing Championships in 2007 and 2008, and claimed the B2 division of the 2009 IFDS Blind Sailing World Championships in Rotorua. She is moving to the mainsheet for the 2011 Match Racing Worlds with Russell Lowry on the helm and Tom Donaghy on headsail. The local Perth team, helmed by Kylie Forth, with Ryan Honschooten on main and Erin McGlew on headsail will be sailing with less than maximum points – with two B1 and one B2 classified sailor aboard. The twenty- five year old Forth, who is also an above-knee amputee, has been steadily moving up the rankings since taking the helm for the first time in 2007. Their familiarity with the Sonar and the local conditions should be an advantage. Paul Borg, winner of the Homerus International Match Racing Championships in 2005 and 2006, has assembled a second Australian team with Craig Gordon on helm and Joan Andrews on main. Manuel Gimeno Ugarte and Federic Albir from Spain defeated Forth and McGlew in the petit finals at the IFDS Blind Match Racing World Championships on Lake Garda last year. Ugarte has also been improving hgis ranking over recent years and will be in Perth to keep the momentum going. The IFDS Blind Match Racing Championship will be sailed in Sonar keelboats using the Homerus Autonomous Sailing system. Three acoustic buoys, each with a unique signal, define the course and boats have their own sound signal that changes when on port or starboard tack. A crew of three sailors classified as B1, B2 or B3 under the IBSA Classification System will make-up teams with a collective maximum of 5 IBSA points. The helmsperson must be classification B1 and the gender is mixed, with a minimum of one female and one male team member. A sighted observer appointed by the race committee is also aboard. Appendix CBS (Appendix C for Blind Sailing) has been developed for the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing to accommodate the specific needs of this sailor group. The event will be ISAF Graded and many of the blind sailors are already included within the ISAF sailor match race rankings. The Championship will be the first sailed in the new three person format, and that may provide some surprises. It will certainly offer some world class racing at a magnificent venue. For more information about the event, visit www.rpyc.com.au/index.php?id=121 Media Information: > download the latest media release <
IFDS Disabled Sailing International Championship19 - 26 March 2011Homerus Blind Match RacingNew Format for Blind Match Racing debuts in Perth, Western Australia Royal Perth Yacht Club has now released the Notice of Race for the IFDS Disabled Sailing International Championship, 2011, Homerus Blind Match Racing. The event will be held on the Swan River from March 19 to 26 next year. In July, the International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) formally requested the International Paralympic Committee introduce blind match racing as a new discipline within the Paralympic Sailing Competition commencing in 2016. While this is yet to be confirmed, the IFDS Blind Match Racing Championship next March will be the first opportunity that teams have to experience the proposed format. The IFDS Blind Match Racing Championship will be sailed in Sonar keelboats using the Homerus Autonomous Sailing system. Three "beeping buoys", each with a unique signal, set out the course and each boat has its own sound signal that changes when on port or starboard tack. A crew of three sailors classified as B1, B2 or B3 under the IBSA Classification System will make-up teams with a collective maximum of 5 IBSA points. The helmsperson must be classification B1 and the gender is mixed, with a minimum of one female and one male team member. A sighted observer appointed by the race committee is also aboard.
An Appendix CBS (Appendix C for Blind Sailing) has been developed for the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing to accommodate the specific needs of this sailor group. The event will be ISAF Graded and many of the blind sailors are already included within the ISAF sailor match race rankings. Teams are expected from Italy, Great Britain, New Zealand, Israel, Spain, the USA and Australia. Kylie Forth, with Ryan Honschooten (main) and Erin McGlew (headsail) all from Royal Perth Yacht Club, are hoping to make the most of their home-town advantage. Forth and McGlew contested the B1 division of the IFDS Blind Match Racing World Championships on Lake Garda in June, finishing fourth behind Spain and two Italian teams. In 2007 & 2008, Forth & Honschooten teamed up for the Homerus International Championships. Previous Blind Match Racing events have been sailed with a two-person crew. Luigi Bertanza from Italy, who has claimed the major trophies in fleet racing and match racing events and was winner of the B1 division of the 2010 IFDS Blind Match Racing World Championships sailing with Sylvia Parente. Bertanza is expected to assemble an experienced team relying on the many years of event experience available to Italian blind sailors. This is a new format, however, and that may provide some surprises. It will certainly provide some exciting racing at an outstanding venue. For more information about the event, visit the Royal Perth Yacht Club's Website
Blind & Vision Impaired Sailing in AustraliaAustralian blind & vision impaired sailors have demonstrated their capacity to excel in international sailing competition, however there is no organised domestic program to foster new talent. It is hoped that this website will provide a vehicle for discussion about participation, skill development and competitive sailing opportunities for those who are blind or vision impaired. What Blind & Vision Impaired Sailing is happening in Australia now?
What else is happening?I am sure that people would like to know what’s happening around the country. If you know of participation, development or racing activities that provide opportunities for blind and vision impaired sailors, let us know so we can include details on the website. Contact Us (admin@blindsailingaustralia.org) What is happening in other parts of the world? There are widely varying opportunities and initiatives throughout the world. Italy seems to be leading the way with Autonomous Blind Sailing thanks to the Homerus project of Alessandro Gaoso. This involves training for racing along with offshore sailing and navigation. Thanks to this project, the Italians have always provided tough match racing competition. Blind Sailing International is active in New Zealand and the USA , with an IFDS World Championship being conducted this September by the New York Yacht Club. The IFDS will only bestow World Championship status on one blind sailing event every one or two years. Canada has an active blind sailing keelboat racing program and the Royal Yachting Association (UK) has for many years run “Blind Week” where 30-50 keelboats cruise the English coastline with blind sailors aboard for up to a week. There is no separate Paralympic blind sailing discipline, however the blind or vision impaired can be classified under the IFDS Functional Classification System (FCS) and therefore be eligible to compete as part of a mixed disability crew in the three person Sonar or the SKUD 18, the new two person class for Beijing developed by Chris Mitchell of Access Dinghies in collaboration with Julian Bethwaite. |
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