IFDS Blind Sailing World & International Championships 2013

May 25. I visited Aburatsubo Boat Service in Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture. It was very quiet around me so I heard the sound of craftsmen doing maintenance work inside the yacht that was raised from the water. There was a 38 ft yacht, that made me think it looked like it could be Aeolus's big sister   docked near the floating bridge. Last September, before Aeolus was moved to Osaka, we had some major work done on her here. That evening, I was invited to the opening ceremony for the IFDS Blind Sailing World & International Championships 2013 that was being held at the Seabornia Marina. I had a great time with some old sailing buddies. Competing blind sailing teams consist of four sailors on a boat, two of whom are blind according to IBSA classifications and two of whom are sighted to serve as guides.  The helmsman and crew (in charge of the main sail) are blind sailors. One of the sighted sailor can not physically touch any of the controls and must verbally inform the helmsman the location and the heading of the vessels around them. The blind sailors listen to the information and maneuver the yacht to avoid crashing into other vessels.  The other sighted sailor is in charge of the jib. Teamwork is vital to these four sailors. They must work together to steer the yacht to find a spot at the start line and avoid collisions when the multiple vessels sail close together when they go around the mark. Talk about an adrenalin rush. Non-stop, heart pounding, breathtaking sailing. I just remembered people talking about how funny the start of a yacht race is. It's quite different from a car race or a 100 m running race because the yachts don't suddenly start racing in the water as soon as you hear "GO!".  The race starts with the yachts sailing parallel to the start line about 5 minutes prior to when the race actually begins and as soon as you hear the sound of the pistol go off the yachts cross the start line as fast as they can. If you pick up speed because the wind got stronger or if the tide pushes you forward and you accidentally cross the start line before the race starts, you have to return to the start line and start all over. So one moment you may think you are first in line at the the start line and the next you are last. Yacht races can be very dramatic. Back in 2006, I was part of a Japanese team for the blind sailing championships that was held at the New York Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island. 3 team members from that championship were in the race today. A sailor I became friends with at the U.S. championships that I participate in every year was there too. More power to you all and I hope that everything you learned during practice will yield fantastic results. At the opening ceremony, I was introduced to Mr. Kojiro Shiraishi, a marine adventurer who has sailed around the globe 3 times and I was able to talk to him about my upcoming adventure. I also talked about Furuno Electric's NavNet Touch and how when connected to the iPad Mini, SailSound can convert the information to sound. Many of the blind expressed interest. I assume it's because there is no other system in the world that can convert this much information into sound. I am so proud and extremely grateful that I have been given the opportunity to use this system that was developed for me to cross the Pacific Ocean.      

Originally posted by Hiro in Japanese on 5/27/2013
Translated by SWIS Project