Winners celebrated at 2006 Blind Sailing Worlds

by NZ Blind Sailing Assoc on 28 Sep 2006 Ideal conditions on the penultimate day of racing (Tuesday, September 26) allowed the Race Committee of New York Yacht Club (Newport, R.I.) to conduct four races that witnessed a new leader emerging in one division while cementing the virtually unbeatable stronghold of another at the 2006 IFDS Blind Sailing World Championship being contested on Narragansett Bay.

For the final day of racing (Wednesday, September 27) a dying northeasterly briefly kept competitors ashore at NYYC’s clubhouse, Harbour Court, as clouds conspired to delay the hoped-for sea breeze. Faced with a 500 meter exclusion zone around two cruise ships anchored close to the preferred race area, and flooding tide until late morning, race organizers sent the teams north of the Newport Bridge and, ultimately, three races were successfully completed in a light east-southeasterly. New Zealand was presented The Squadron Cup that rewards the team with the best overall performance across the three divisions: blind (B1), visually impaired (B2) and least visually impaired (B3).

B1 Division: Thomas Johannesen (Askøy), Jostein Stenevik (Austevol), Stian Soltvedt (Askøy) and Jon Lystrup (Bergen) – Norway's 2002 B1 World Silver Medalists – finished the 2006 IFDS Blind Sailing World Championship as they had begun it – by winning. After four races on the opening day of the championship, the Norwegians were placed second overall after losing the tie-breaker with USA-Massachusetts. A sixth-place finish on day two briefly saw them third in the overall scoring before a discard kicked in with the completion of additional races. Winning two races on the penultimate day of the series gave them a single point lead over New Zealand's Rob Aislabie (Rotorua), Dave Allerton (Waitara), Wayne Holdt, and Simon Holdt (both New Plymouth) as racing began for the final day of the series. With finishes of 2-1-1 Norway won their spot in the record books and became the first recipient of The Colin Spanhake Trophy that honors the New Zealander who established Blind Sailing International in the mid-‘80s and who passed away in 2004. The trophy is awarded to the winning team in the blind (B1) division. USA-Massachusetts, with skipper Sengil Inkiala (Watertown), Deborah Keating (Woburn), and visual aides Ken Legler (Reading) and Lisa O'Connor (Malden) won the bronze medal.

B2 Division: New Zealand skipper Paulien Eitjes (Tauranga) with Dick Lancaster (Taumarunui) and sighted crew Gary Smith and Scott Burling (both Tauranga) rightfully claimed the 2006 IFDS B2 Blind Sailing World Championship title after leading their division throughout the contest. The Kiwis were pressed hard by Great Britain’s 2002 B2 World Bronze Medalists – skipper Lucy Hodges (Southend, Essex), visually impaired crew John Simpson (Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire) and sighted guides Chris Sinclair (Oxford, Oxfordshire) and Gary Butler (Rochdale, Lancashire) – who were effective in keeping the point spread close. With wins in three of four races on the penultimate day, NZL improved on their position and successfully closed the deal by winning the last two races of the series for a final score of 18 points to GBR’s 27. The USA-Massachusetts team led by Matt Chao with visually impaired crew Nina Kagan (both Boston), and sighted guides Bill Rapp (Rockport) and Peter Frisch (Swampscott), took the bronze medal with 40 points.

B3 Division: The USA-Florida team helmed by 2000 Sonar Paralympic Bronze Medalist J.P. Creignou (St. Petersburg) claimed the B3 division lead on the opening day of the championship series and never relinquished it. With visually impaired crew Jan Bartleson (Miami), and sighted guides Colin Park (St. Petersburg) and Patty Forrestel (Miami), Creignou steered the team to win seven out of 11 races to effect a 12-point lead over Great Britain as the racers took to the waters of Narragansett Bay for the final day of the competition in Sail Newport’s fleet of J/22s. USA-Florida claimed the championship crown with the addition of three first-place finishes to their scoreline, giving them a 19-point margin over the defending champions, GBR skipper Gary Kirby (Falmouth, Cornwall), visually impaired crew Toby Davey (London), and sighted guides Martin Moody (Southampton, Hampshire) and Ian Shirra (Rochdale, Lancashire). GBR successfully held off New Zealand's Eddie Moree, visually impaired crew Shannon Leslie (both Rotorua), and sighted guides Brian Trubovich (Auckland) and Tony Poolman (Rotorua) who had come within a single point of overtaking after they won two races on the penultimate day of the championship.

'It is pretty amazing, especially here in Newport, at this venue, the NYYC, it is very special,' said J.P. Creignou on winning the world championship. 'We really had a group of people who work well together and were on the same page and we had a good time together. Having the right combination of people is very important and of course everybody worked really hard. It all came together.'

The vision classification of the skipper determines in which division each four-person team is competing with the totally blind B1s and the vision-impaired B2s racing New York Yacht Club's fleet of 23' Sonars, and the least vision-impaired B3s racing in Sail Newport's J/22s. Regatta rules mandate that only a blind sailor can steer, while the other blind crew trims the sails. Verbal information provided by two sighted guides allows the blind skipper and crew to tactically position the boat as it navigates the race course.

Sponsors of the 2006 IFDS Blind Sailing World Championship are Best Western The Mainstay Inn (Newport, R.I.), The Carroll Center for the Blind (Newton, Mass.), the Rhode Island Sailing Foundation and The Sailing Foundation of New York. Also, Harken, Koch Eye Associates, Narragansett Beer, Nasiff Fruit Company, Newport Specialty Foods, Newport Tent Company, Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic, Herreshoff Marine Museum, Crystal Spring Water Company, Seaman's Church Institute, Rolex Watch U.S.A., North Sails, Nautor's Swan, Newport Community Band at Salve Regina University, and J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines. The championship is organized by the NYYC, IFDS, Blind Sailing International and US SAILING, the United States' Member National Authority (MNA) of the International Sailing Federation.

For more information visit www.nyyc.org

2006 IFDS Blind Sailing World Championship

New York Yacht Club, Newport, Rhode Island USA

Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists, by Division:

B1 Division (6 Sonars):

NOR - Thomas Johannesen, Jostein Stenevik, Stian Soltvedt, Jon Lystrup; 1-5-3-2-(6)-2-2-3-1-1-2-2-1-1; 26 points.

NZL - Rob Aislabie, Dave Allerton, Wayne Holdt, Simon Holdt; 4-1-4-(5)-1-4-3-1-2-2-1-4-2-2; 31.

USA-Mass - Sengil Inkiala, Deborah Keating, Ken Legler, Lisa O'Connor; 2-3-5-1-2-3-1-5-3-3-4-3-(6)-4; 39.


B2 Division (7 Sonars):

NZL - Paulien Eitjes, Dick Lancaster, Gary Smith, Scott Burling; 1-(3)-2-1-1-2-1-1-3-1-1-2-1-1; 18.

GBR - Lucy Hodges, John Simpson, Chris Sinclair, Gary Butler; 2-1-(3)-2-3-1-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-3; 27.

USA-Mass - Matt Chao, Nina Kagan, Bill Rapp, Peter Frisch; 3-2-5-4-2-3-5-3-1-(6)-3-1-4-4; 40.


B3 Division (6 J/22s):

USA-Florida - J.P. Creignou, Jan Bartleson, Colin Park, Patty Forrestel; 2-1-1-1-2-1-1-(3)-1-1-2-1-1-1; 16.

GBR - Gary Kirby, Toby Davey, Martin Moody, Ian Shirra; (5)-2-3-4-1-2-2-2-4-2-3-2-3-5; 35.

NZL - Eddie Moree, Shannon Leslie, Brian Trubovich, Tony Poolman, 3-3-(4)-2-3-4-3-1-3-3-1-4-2-4; 36.