Strong showing down under

The blind sailing team featuring two Cape Anners that traveled to New Zealand last week to compete in the IFDS World Blind Sailing Championship faced its fair share of challenges on its path to a third-place finish and a bronze medal.

Then again, overcoming obstacles, said Rockport resident Bill Rapp — one of two sighted coaches on the team — is something blind sailors are very good at.

Gloucester resident Mark Bos, 44, who is legally blind, was part of a four-man crew of two blind sailors and two sighted coaches. His team was one of two from the The Carroll Center for the Blind's SailBlind program to travel to the World Championship this year, Bos said.

The second boat from the Carroll Center, which competed in a different division, was helmed by Matt Chao and finished seventh out of a field of nine. There are three divisions based on the amount of vision possessed by the sailors.

The third crew representing the United States finished last in a field of five and was helmed by Californian blind-sailor Walter Raineri.

Bos trimmed the sails on the boat that was steered by blind helmsman Jason Wallenstein of Sharon against four other crews in a total of 14 races over the week-long event. It was the first time competing in the World Championship for both sailors.

"That's quite an accomplishment for them," Rapp said. "I think they were very happy with the fact that their training served them well in the competition."

"For me, I'm just glad to be able to help out and be a part of it," added Rapp, who has trained with Bos, Wallenstein and fellow sighted guide Lisa O'Connor of Hull for a year and a half.

Sighted coaches act as "eyes" and give verbal commands. However, blind sailors try to use their face or their body to feel the direction of the wind and anticipate changes on their own.

It wasn't exactly "smooth sailing" for Bos' crew during the competition.

The boats used at the competition, Noelex 25s, were much different from the boats the crew trains with, J/22s and Sonars, at Boston's Courageous Sailing Center. Heavier and less responsive, learning to "feel" the new boats proved to be a significant obstacle for the crew and resulted in a last place finish on the first day, Rapp said.

However, Bos and Wallenstein, who had two days of training on the new boats prior to the start of the event, adjusted well after the first day of competition, noted Rapp.

Rapp attributed their ability to adapt to a new boat to their training and a general "focus on overcoming obstacles, which they're very good at, because through the loss of vision they've overcome significant obstacles."

Bos has been legally blind for 13 years as a result of motorcycle accident in the spring of 1984 that left him in a coma for 10 days. He broke his back and neck in two places, broke all but two bones in his skull, lost his sense of smell and completely lost vision in his left eye. His vision in right eye has been deteriorating ever since, Bos said.

After the accident, Bos spent two years in hospitals going through rehab.

"I had to relearn everything all over again," he said. "How to walk and talk and who I was."

Just three years after his accident, Bos was bicycling across Ireland with a friend.

"I've always really enjoyed athletic events," he said. "I'll probably do as much as I can right up until I can't do anything."

Bos first tried sailing on a dare, and thought he wouldn't like it because it conjured up memories of his father's leisure sailing, which had never interested him. However, ever since his first outing, he hasn't stopped.

"The speed," Bos said, "you can feel it. You know? You don't have to see it."

Bos, who loves the challenge and thrill of extreme sports, fell overboard while making a tack early in the competition on a day with strong, 18 mph winds.

By his own admission, Bos was in an adrenaline rush at the time of the fall, which vice president of the Carroll Center and program director for SailBlind, Arthur O'Neill said, was a first.

"Mark is very athletic and he was very exuberant and excited about this event," said O'Neill. "When he does something, he puts his whole heart and soul into it."

Bos hit the water, but was still holding on to the boat and pulled himself back on to the boat with the help of the other crewmen, O'Neill said.

"I was excited and ready to do anything to help my team win," Bos said.

The blind sailing at the World Championship, which hosted 19 teams from 10 different countries, was similar to sighted sailing regattas, said Bos. A typical course has three "marks" that the teams need to negotiate their way around.

"The competition was very fierce," said O'Neill, who travelled with the teams to the competition.

He added that some of other teams at this year's competition had been to the World Championship in the past and "keep getting better and better."

Teams raced several times a day between Sunday, March 14, and Friday, March 20 — races scheduled for the following Saturday were canceled due to lack of wind.

This was the seventh time that the Carroll Center, which is located in Newton, competed in the World Championships, which were held on New Zealand's Lake Rotorua and were first launched in that country in 1992.

Finishing ahead of Bos and Rapp's crew were boats from New Zealand, which placed second, and Great Britain, which took first.

O'Neill said the rewards for the sailors extend beyond the medal itself.

"It was a very enriching experience," he said of the event that allowed the U.S. sailors to meet with crews from all over the world.

"It's important from the respect that the team worked very hard training," said O'Neill. "To come back with a bronze medal was just a nice cap on all of the effort that they put into it."

Robert Cann can be reached at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com

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Local legally blind sailor, crew medal in world event

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