The 2017 Blind Sailing World Championship are being sailed in Sheboygan USA with fifty sailors representing five nations competing in the Sonar class sailboats: Australia, Canada (2 teams), Great Britain (4 teams), New Zealand and United States (6 teams) are competing in the three divisions (based on level of visual impairment of the sailors). The boats are sailed by a team consisting of two visually impaired sailors and two sighted sailors on each team.
The Championship was off to a foggy start on Tuesday and Wednesday, pea soup as it’s called in Sheboygan, with a few races each day for all three divisions. Thursday the fog slowly faded to allow for a hazy day of sailing bringing light winds to the race course. Friday the sun finally came out with winds between 10-12 mph to allow 12 races throughout the day.
The event is hosted by Sail Sheboygan and SEAS with REACH Forward sponsoring the event.
Great Britain currently is leading the B2 and B3 Division and in second in B1. “Race one saw GBR [B1] get clear ahead, they maintained their lead throughout the race but on the last down wind leg USA, Canada reeled them back to see all boats finish tight on the line but with GBR ahead”, said Lucy Hodges, one of the skippers from Great Britain.
There is plenty of racing to go with Saturday and Sunday with the possibility of increased breeze on Saturday and lighter winds on Sunday. Race results can be viewed at www.sailsheboygan.com/2017bfrw/ and on Facebook @SailSheboygan.
