Hollingworth Lake team take Silver at Blind Sailing Championships

The B2 Class team pictured wearing their Silver Medals, from left to right: Gary Butler, Jackie Veenes, Lucy Hodges (helm) and Adam McGovern.

Centre staff at Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre are celebrating silver medal success at this year’s World Blind Sailing Championships held on Lake Rotorua in New Zealand.

Ten nations took part in the 2009 IFDS championships, competing in a series of races over seven days.

The teams are made up of three different classes and each of the blind or visually impaired crews are aided by a sighted tactician who is prohibited from touching any of the boat’s controls, together with a sighted crew whose role is restricted in terms of which controls they are permitted to operate.

Link4Life, which runs the water activity centre at the lake, were represented by employees Gary Butler and Adam McGovern, who were part of the 2009 GBR Blind Sailing Team in class B2 for visually impaired.

They had worked hard to help raise £20,000 for the team to compete, with the team kit sponsored by Link4Life.

After an encouraging win on day one and strong tactical sailing in some challenging seas, the team was forced into silver medal position with first place going to the home team, New Zealand.

Gary Butler has worked at the Water Activities Centre at Hollingworth Lake (HOLWAC) since 1990 and is now Centre Manager. Adam McGovern first started at Hollingworth Lake on a work experience scheme in 1998 and is now the RYA Onboard Development Officer.

This is the first time McGovern has been involved in the British Blind Sailing Team but he brought with him a wealth of experience from the world class dinghy fleet racing scene.

Butler meanwhile first taught a visually impaired person to sail in 1995. This quickly became a passion and he was invited to the first Blind Sailing National Championships at Lymington and then selection for the British Team. His past sailing achievements with the GB team are winning the Squadron Cup (the overall team prize) twice and a silver and three bronze medals at World Championship events.

They are now working hard to give other young visually impaired sailors the chance to race through opportunities at Hollingworth Lake.

This is the seventh world championship for blind sailors after the inaugural competition in 1992. Great Britain has been represented at all the previous regattas and enjoyed considerable success on each occasion.