Commodore Dale Deane has announced the club's purchase of a Farr 727, Horizon, 24 foot keel boat. It has been the Club's long term ambition to progress from their 4.5 metre Venturer Trailer Sailers to a more substantial craft which will make more kindly passage voyages. and extend the cruising range of the Club.

Dale Deane aboard Auckland Club's Farr 727 onthe Ports of Auckland sponsored marina beth at Westhaven   Council Chairman Paul Barton congratulates Dale Deane on the Auckland Club's fine effort

It is the club's ambition to participate in local club cruising events and give blind sailors a better chance to integrate into the wider yachting community.

We have started racing Green Pepper against other yachts. In the recent Ponsonby Cruising Club’s “GILL Winter Racing Series” we raced against other yachts in the spinnaker division. This was the first time our VIP crew members had used spinnakers when racing so it was a rapid and exciting learning curve. In our first race, we successfully followed all the fleet around the course. First but at the wrong end!

In the second race, we came second on handicap, a wonderful surprise. Had we improved by 22 seconds or 0.00349% we would have won. In our third race we came third. The question remains do we risk a fourth race to come fourth? So we were very pleased with our results and the racing against normal fleets has really focused our activities and crew work. Luckily the series has finished and we are about to haul out for repainting the hull and antifouling.

Our Club is Supported & Financially Sponsored by

The sailing club was formed in 1988 to provide both recreational and competitive sailing to satisfy the needs of Auckland's blind and partially sighted community.

Background

The first sailing trips for the newly formed club, were taken from Torpedo Bay, Devonport, on the North Shore, where the club was allowed to use the Navy's, Crown Dinghies on Sunday mornings.

As interest grew and club members wanted to stay out longer on the water, the club then purchased it's first 20ft, Ventura, trailer sailer yacht named BAD HABIT, followed soon afterwards by a second, called VENDACE. Thus began our club, an extension arm of the NZCSBVIP Inc., our National Organising Body, but, operating under our own constitution, and named:

VISION IMPAIRED PERSONS
SAILING CLUB (Auckland) INC.

The Sailing Programme

The yachts are moored at the Westhaven V marina through the generosity of the Ports of Auckland. This mooring provides an ideal centralised location, which is easy for blind and partially sighted people to access by private car, bus, taxi or on foot, especially from the centre of the city, in the downtown area.

On board the yachts, there are 4 people in a typical crew :
Skipper Sighted
Helper Sighted
Blind or Vision impaired x 2

Prospective members may have a trip or two to see if they like sailing before joining the club and paying the modest annual subscription fee of $20.00.

Any non-member or person can venture out on our yachts for the day and enjoy the sailing, with our club members A small donation of up to $5.00 per individual to our club would be nice, but is left up to your discretion. Everyone is encouraged to take part in all aspects of the sailing trip Including:
Yacht preparation (Before the Sailing trip)
Sail hoisting, trimming & operation
Steering
Yacht Mooring (After completion of sailing).

They will also be shown how to carry out all tasks required to sail the yacht. Trips may take from a couple of hours to a whole day or more, depending upon the weather or what the whole crew can decide on. The club is run by a committee of a mixture of vision impaired & sighted helpers, who are encouraged to take an active part in all aspects of the clubs activities, as well as sailing trips. These include bi-monthly meetings to deal with the clubs business, operation & social interaction.

Sighted Skipper

The sighted skipper must be an experienced sailor with the ability to take control of any situation and ensure the safety of the yacht and crew. He or she is in total charge and command on the water, while the commodore is in charge on land and he must be able to give the crew full instructions in all aspects of sailing and the impending sailing trip, as needed, from yacht preparation, through to sail trimming and operation, to stowing the gear away afterwards. There should be onboard discussions and instructions about sailing rules and safety procedures.

Sighted Helper

The sighted helper will preferably have some sailing experience, though this is not essential. He or She will assist the vision impaired person as needed, both in helping to perform sailing tasks and assisting with their mobility, onshore and offshore. The skipper may also require help with sailing the yacht, especially if he has to go below decks for a moment or is occupied with a particular task. The role of a second lookout i.e. an extra pair of eyes, is also important, especially keeping a look out for other craft in the immediate vicinity, in readiness to manouver the yacht accordingly and also to watch to leeward, where sails obscure other craft from vision.

Achievements

The club has given many people, especially blind and vision impaired the opportunity to taste the fun and skill of sailing. Having seen and trained quite a few people through our club over the past years. We have enjoyed also to watch some of our club members achieving their goals of reaching the very pinnacle of sailing success, 3 World Championship gold medals overseas.

In October 2000, one of our medalists and B3 sighted tactician were selected in a mixed team of handicapped and blind, for the Paralympics, in Sydney, Australia.

Any person with adequate sailing experience may use or come out in the yachts, as the club provides recognised sailing skippers (instructors) and sighted crew.

Future

In the future, the vision for our club, is to acquire a larger yacht, around 25-30ft, to replace our two 20ft, trailer sailers. The future for our club looks bright and when we acquire our new yacht, it will provide a much more stable platform, giving vision impaired people more confidence in all area's of their sailing.

• Have a better all round weather craft, able to persist in most weather conditions. Will be able to go cruising further a field.

• Have overnight stays, camping trips in the beautiful Hauraki Gulf.

New Members Welcomed

Contact
The Secretary
The Auckland Blind Sailing Club Inc.
C/- PO Box 36 401 Northcote,
Auckland, New Zealand

or