[Sportsandrec] sailing

[Kris Scheppe]

We sail the boat by feeling the wind on our face and the way the boat 
feels going through the water. You can feel and hear when the boat is 
moving fast as opposed to being sluggish. There are two types of blind 
sailing, fleet racing and match racing. In fleet racing there are 4 on 
the boat two blind and two sighted. The helmsman (person steering the 
boat) and mainsheet trimmer are blind and jib trimmer and tactician are 
sighted. The tactician is only allowed to give verbal commands and can't 
touch any controls on the boat. In this type of racing you are racing 
against several other boats at the same time. Match racing, which we 
just had worlds for, is a crew of three blind on the boat. The helmsman 
must be totally blind or blindfolded. Each person on the boat is given a 
point value based in visual category, B1 = 1 pt, B2 = 2 pt, B3 = 3 pt, 
you can't have more than a total of 6 points on the boat. Match racing 
uses autdio buoys, so you listen for different sounds from the buoys to 
navigate around the course. Only two boat race each other at a time and 
each boat also has a sound signal on it, so you can hear where the other 
boat is.

While boath forms of racing are fun, I prefer the match racing as it is 
truly blind sailing without sighted assistance. We usually race boat 
that are 20-24 feet long. The 2017 Blind Fleet Racing Worlds will be at 
Houston Yacht Club in September.

The boats used for competition are provided by the Yacht Club or 
Organization hosting the event. A totally blind person can definitly 
sail and compete! Competitions in different places in around the 
country. We have events coming up in Titusville, FL, Sheboygan, WI, 
Boston, MA, Toronto, Canada, and Houston, TX. Last year we did a series 
of 6 clinics around the country to get more people into match racing, 
which is fairly new in the US.

Want to learn how to sail? I can help you find a program in your area to 
learn to sail or tell you when clinic are so you can come.

Feel free to ask any other questions you have!

Kris Scheppe

> -----Original Message-----
> From: SportsandRec [mailto:sportsandrec-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Kris Scheppe via SportsandRec
> Sent: November-21-16 2:04 PM
> To: sportsandrec at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Kris Scheppe
> Subject: Re: [Sportsandrec] Sports Done by the Blind but not Discussed
>
> I'm real into sailing. My team won Bronze in the Blind Match Racing
> World Championship this last September. I'm also working on doing an
> ocean race next summer. Next September will be the Blind Fleet Racing
> World Championship in Houston. I love every part of being on the water
> and the strategy and competative aspect of sailing. I'm also the
> Americas representative for Blind Sailing International, so if you have
> any questions about sailing or would like to give it a try let me know!
>
> Kris Scheppe
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SportsandRec mailing list
> SportsandRec at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/sportsandrec_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> SportsandRec:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/sportsandrec_nfbnet.org/gasbedard%40videot
> ron.ca
>