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Two of three New Zealand crews competing at May's IFDS Blind Sailing World Championships in Japan have returned home with medals. Together the crew of Kiwis were second best nation overall, again fuelling the proud history that New Zealanders carry on the global scene of Blind Sailing.
After fifteen consistently sailed races in the B3 division, Kerikeri’s Tony Holmes (Skipper) and Tauranga’s Ben Geddes (Mainsheet) with sighted crew Graeme Sutherland and Paige Cook stood on top of the podium, a clear 10 points ahead of the silver medalling British.
“This was a great effort by a great team” says coach Brian Trubovich. “They’re just a perfect example of consistent sailing”.
In the B2 division, the kiwi team of David Allerton (Helm), David Parker (Mainsheet) with sighted crew Terry Valder and Michael Cox came second overall, losing only to the nearly unstoppable British Lucy Hodges. At the 2009 World Championships, Lucy and her B2 crew came second to the New Zealanders.
In the B1 Division, Russell Lowry (Helm) brought Dick Lancaster (Mainsheet) out of retirement to sail with sighted crew Paul Moriarty and Philip Paterson, together finishing a very respectable 6th overall, tied equal with 5th placed Japan team.
Two gold medals to the British Team (B1 and B2) saw the Squadron Cup change hands, leaving New Zealand only until the next worlds, rumoured to be in Holland in 2015....
Here’s the report from Bernard Destrube / IFDS:
The IFDS Blind Sailing World and International Championships 2013, organized by Seabournia Yacht Club in Sagawa Bay, Miura Peninsula, Japan has come to a close.
Neither the sailors, nor the many volunteers are soon to forget such an exciting event. The Race Committee managed to complete 15 races over five days of competition, in winds varying from light to sufficiently strong to cancel racing.
After Classification into one of the three Vision Impaired Classes (B1, B2, B3) the 38 blind or vision impaired sailors and their 38 crewmembers set out for the competition. Amazed spectators and competent press photographers watched the scene, as the blind skippers helmed the boats with vocal guidance of the tactician, the sails being trimmed by the vision impaired crew on the mainsheet, and a sighted crew manning the jib.
The second day provided for some exciting racing as gusty winds and short steep waves made for tricky sailing. As the fleet prepared to start the last race of the day, boat 17 collided with another, but despite considerable damage was able to cross the start line, on its way to two more contacts. Approaching the windward mark the same boat collided with a boat coming downwind before getting T-boned by the following downwind boat.
After supplying 19 very balanced J 24s, the organizers even managed to provide another two boats to replace those that could not sail anymore, just one of the many examples of the dedication and quality of the Organizing Committee.
By day three, the International Jury had handled 20 protests, but after that, sailors managed to keep the competition on the water.
On the last day of racing and under sunny skies, Her Imperial Highness Hisako Takamado cheered the sailors from the bridge of the 57 foot Lagoon catamaran supplied by event sponsor Rivera Resort.
As the sailors came ashore, they were welcomed by the smiling Princess who chatted with them in perfect English, sharing an unexpected sense of humour.
Lovely stained glass trophies, made by persons with learning disabilities working in the small "People Factory' in Tokyo rewarded the top sailors in each category.
In the B1 fleet, prizes went to teams headed by Sharon Grennan (GBR), Kylie Forth (AUS) and Matt Chao (USA).
B2 winners were Lucy Hodges (GBR) followed by David Allerton (NZL) and Keiko Ogura (JPN).
The B3 fleet was dominated respectively by Tony Holmes (NZL), Liam Cattermole (GBR) and Takahito Mochizuki (JPN).
