For the first time in their history, Visa- gb, a visually impaired charity run by visually impaired sailing enthusiasts is taking on Round The Island Race today (Saturday).
EXCLUSIVE
The newly formed crew consists of blind and partially sighted sailors that will be supported by a sighted volunteer skipper.
The team will be wearing purple in their boat called Ellie B - so Islanders can try and spot them amongst the 1,800 yachts competing this year.
Chairman of the Association, Anil Kanani has around four weeks of sailing experience himself and will be taking part.
He told Isle of Wight Radio:
“Our aim is to empower and encourage visually impaired adults to enjoy offshore sailing. What we mean by that is we want the visually impaired on our boats to feel like part of the crew and they do everything on the boat…. By ‘encourage’, we mean we want them to develop their sailing skills and other skills like team-building skills, interpersonal skills and organisation skills.”
The visually impaired crew is made up of Eddie Kitchen, Alan Mckey, John Heart and Anil himself.
They have some sailing experience and - with one having more than ten years experience.
The sighted crew has around 30 years of experience behind them and consists of Rick Smith, David Hathaway and Colin Wright.
They will be assisting the partially sighted crew by “acting as their eyes”.
Anil Kanani explained:
“They will talk to us all the time saying for example if something is approaching on the stern, when there is a wave that is going to hit us and keep an eye on the bearing we are taking to make sure we are going along the right route.”
“The visually impaired crew will also use their hearing to identify where the wind is actually flowing from and also gauge what the rudder is doing while they are on the helm to feel how the boat is moving - then take action from that.”
The boat will also have a spinnaker or kite to make them go faster, which Anil says will give them “another kind of experience!”
He concluded:
“The crew are all really looking forward to it and say they can’t wait! Some haven’t had the chance to sail since 2019 because of the pandemic...Strategic Solutions is also funding us and without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do the race.”
Ocean racer Pip Hare who took part in the Vendee challenge around the globe will be supporting the team - as one of the patrons of Visa-gb.
Anil says this is the most ambitious mission they have decided to undertake and the first time they have taken part in a race but if it goes well they will plan to compete in future.
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