UK National Blind Sailing Champs at Suffolk Yacht Harbour
by Michael Hervey-Murray 28 May 2010 09:29 BST
22-23 May 2010
Blind and partially sighted sailors from all over the UK gathered at Suffolk Yacht Harbour last weekend to enjoy perfect sailing weather for the UK National Blind Sailing Championships. The event was organised by the East Anglian Sailing Trust (EAST) which provides sailing opportunities for disabled people on the River Orwell.
The blind sailors, from as far afield as Dundee and Chichester, started the Championships with a practice session on Friday afternoon and then competed in seven races on Saturday and Sunday. Despite some light winds on Saturday morning which delayed the start, the sailors enjoyed some very close and exciting racing during the rest of the weekend.
The competitors were divided into three classes; B1, totally blind, B2 partially sighted and B3 with some useful vision. The blind sailors crewed EAST’s Squib keelboats and were accompanied by a sighted tactician who provided the blind crew with information about where to steer and the position of other competitors.
The youngest competitor and overall winner was 15 year old Max Hatfull from Stamford in Lincolnshire. Max, who competes in the B3 class and is totally blind in one eye but has some sight in his other eye, is busy preparing for his GCSEs at Bourne Grammar School when not out sailing. He is an experienced dinghy sailor and often accompanies his parents on their Woolverstone based yacht.
EAST’s Chairman, Tim Thomas, said “Following the success of last year’s Championships, which EAST also hosted, we were very pleased to be asked to organise this event again this year by RYA Sailability. EAST’s volunteers thoroughly enjoyed helping to get the blind sailors afloat for this important event.”
Lucy Hodges, from the Blind Sailing Association said "the competitors had a wonderful weekend and we are very grateful to the team at EAST for organising this event"
Class winners were:
B1 Sharon Grennon, Eddie Kitchen and Gareth Robinson (tactician)
B2 Lucy Hodges, Toby Davey and Adam McGoven (tactician)
B3 Max Hatfull, Martin Phillips and Ian Shirra (tactician)