Blind Sailing Team based in Perth, Western Australia. Kylie Forth has skippered the team since 2007, with Ryan Honschooten and Erin McGlew trimming the sails.
The Team
Since its inception in 2007, the current team has sailed out of Royal Perth Yacht Club on the beautiful Swan River in Western Australia. Most people work their way up slowly through the ranks of competitive sailing, but our sailors were all thrown in at the deep end. None of them imagined that a seemingly casual phone call from a friend would end with them signing up to participate in an
international championship, in Italy, in three months time. Yet they all agreed without hesitation to the challenge of learning a new role, and came back from their first championships with a passion for sailing and a determination to do better next time. Past championships have favoured a two-person team configuration, so Kylie, Ryan and Erin have sailed as a complete team only once, in the 2011 IFDS International Match-Racing Championships in Perth. This is set to change in 2014, as the next IFDS World Blind Match-Racing Championships requires a three-person team. Justin Kelleher joined the team as Coach in 2011. Since then, he has worked exclusively with the team, who have benefited greatly from both his match-racing and elite competition experience, and the continuity of having the same Coach over a prolonged period of time. Justin’s training sessions are renowned for incorporating a hypothetical opponent boat, which has proved invaluable when the team have not had the resources to train against a real opponent. Justin has seen the team develop into an elite unit, and they have been able to move to the next level under his guidance. Anna Mulholland joined the team as sighted foredeck hand for the 2013 World Blind Sailing Championships. Anna was an integral part of the team, both on and off the water. This year, Fiona McCabe joins the team as sighted foredeck hand and we are in training for the 2017 World Blind Sailing Championships in Sheboygan, USA. We also have a dedicated team of supporters, boat owners, past coaches and volunteers who provide much-needed help and encouragement along the way. These people assist with logistics, training sessions and sourcing equipment. Our on-water team would not be able to function without this support, so we are always sure to “ring the bell” for them in the Wardroom bar on our return from competitions.
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