Progress Report
In the last six weeks we have participated in the Sail for Gold Regatta as well as the IFDS World Championships. At Sail for Gold it was Jo's first ever regatta so I was talking her round the course and within a few races she was now understanding more about racing. Our goal for sail for gold was not to come last and we managed this. Our coach was incredibly happy with our progression at this event especially as we had only been sailing together for a couple of weeks.
At the start of the IFDS World Championships we were hoping to better our 16th place At Sail for Gold. With an extra four boats at the world Championships we were incredibly excited on the first two days to be running in 16th place out of 21. Unfortunately at this Regatta we were only able to compete in five or six out of the 11 races primarily due to boat breakages as well as bad weather.
Our boat is possibly the oldest on the Paralympic circuit and with this comes problems if they are not kept in check. It was always our intention to completely strip the boat down after the world Championships and after the third day we realised that there are a lot more problems with our boat than we had expected. These are not insurmountable but they will take sometime to rectify.
Jo's brother Marcus has become heavily involved with developing the infrastructure we need for both the boat as well as possibly finding sponsorship and suppliers for equipment on our behalf. He is doing this on a voluntary basis and wants to work with Peter Jones and Wimbleball Sailability to enable our campaign to move forward. He is also a very accomplished coach.
Looking forward to the rest of the year we are due to go up to Rutland for the access multiclass regatta in the middle of Augustwhich also doubles as the UK SKUD National Championships. After this there are the national rankers in Weymouth at the end of September. We will also be doing several training camps throughout the year..
Jo and I would like to congratulate Alexander Rickam and Nikki Burrell (Great Britain SKUD sailors) for their third IFDS World Championship win in three years!
Ellen MacArthur says:
Geoff Holt says:
“Despite Keith’s obvious challenges in life, he’s one of the most driven people I know – I like that – it kind of reminds me of myself. He has an obvious talent for sailing and a particular aptitude for racing. And with the right boat and the right technology to overcome his physical limitations, he will prove that he has the determination and skill to earn the right to compete with the best”.