RYA WINTER 2020


of the RYA in those early years. ‘The instructors were so good. There wasn’t a big platform for blind learning back then but they learned on their feet how to make it work, getting an extra instructor for me so it didn’t slow the [sighted] classwork, working out ways I could do 99 per cent of everything in the course like man- overboard drills.’


28


“the way the rya training


courses lead you through every stage has made sailing more accessible”


She names Julian Mandiwall, the association’s late head of RYA Sailability, as a mentor. Current RYA courses are so well-structured they produce better sailors, she says. They provide rigour. ‘You can do [non-RYA] zero-to-hero courses but do you have the experience to cope in a strong breeze or handle breakages? How the RYA has designed the courses to lead you through every stage, especially being able to prepare coursework online or listen to course audiobooks, has made sailing much more accessible.’ That is the purpose of Lucy’s charity, Blind Sailing UK (aka GBR


Blind Sailing as the national race team). Its goal is to support people of any level of visual impairment to get afloat, from first-timers on the RYA courses she runs (which is why we’re meeting at South Cerney Sailing Club, motto: ‘Champions start here’) to elite racers with sights set on gold.


empowering others on the water


Indeed, it seems RYA courses for VI sailors aren’t entirely about learning to sail. They’re about confidence. ‘When I was 17 I remember being in tears about how to get home by myself,’ Lucy says. ‘I try to answer all the thousands of questions that may stop people dipping a toe in. We allow people to put their trust in others and ask for help.’ It’s not hyperbole to say her courses have changed


lives. There was the former company director who became visually impaired but found a purpose (and saved his marriage) through sailing; the female sailor who considered suicide after losing her sight before she was helped back afloat; the confident young woman who’d previously been too nervous to leave her house. Her own condition fluctuates with stress and emotion. When the countdown guns fire before a race she becomes temporarily totally blind. ‘But I’ve got the trust in my ability and the guys to keep calm,’ she says. ‘That comes back to the RYA. It’s learning the skills correctly and knowing that no matter what happens that you can cope, that you’re in control.’ Incidentally, Lucy took the GP14 out. It heeled violently to Force 7 gusts like a bronco. She didn’t capsize once.


Lucy shares her confidence on the water with others through mentoring.


for anything ready


Turn the page to explore 50 years of inspirational RYA Training


Pre-race nerves can


severely affect Lucy’s vision,so it’s vital she trusts her crew.


Much of Lucy’s sailing is done by ‘feel’ – the direction of the wind, the pull of the ropes.


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