Blind Championships in Wisconsin

The 2017 Blind Fleet Racing North American and National Championship will be held June 16-19 on Lake Michigan at Sheboygan, WI.

Blind fleet racing consists of two blind or visually impaired sailors filling the role of skipper and main trimmer with a sighted crew allowed to trim the jib and a tactician limited to verbal communication.

Unlike blind match racing that requires sound making devices on the boats and marks, the fleet race can be conducted the same as an able bodied fleet race through the help of the sighted guides. Sheboygan will plan to experiment with the sound marks to see if they will provide fair additional aid to the competitors.

The teams racing are as follows:
Skipper Pauline Dowell, Christian Thaxton, Leo Gaskell, and Grace Olsen representing Boston United Blind Sailing (BUBS)

Skipper Scott Fore, Larry Carlin, Rachelle Ponce and Guy Mossman representing Warrior Sailing

Skipper Kris Scheppe, Katherine Kern, Jim Thweatt and Juju Senfft representing Blind Sailing Unlimited, Bay Area Assn. of Disabled Sailers (BAADS) and BUBS

Skipper Walter Raineri, BJ Blahnik, Andrew Wilkinson and Jason Berdyck representing BAADS and Visually Impaired Sailing Institute of North America

Details: http://www.sailsheboygan.org/events/2017blind-fleet/

Source: Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan