Sailor Liam works towards realising Paralympic dream

Aspiring Paralympian and former Bishop Luffa School student Liam Cattermole helped Great Britain bring home the Squadraon Cup team trophy at the 2013 International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) Blind Sailing Championships.

BA (Hons) Business Management student Liam, a final-year Southampton Solent University student from West Wittering, came second in his class even though he has been sailing for only three years.

He attended his first regatta in May 2010 with Blind Sailing, a charity helping blind and partially-sighted people sail at all levels.

In 2011 he came first in the B3 sight category and in 2012 and he was selected to represent GB at the IFDS Blind Fleet Racing World Championships, held in Miura city, Japan.

Liam is registered partially sighted with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease he has had since birth. His condition is incurable, with no vision in his right eye and only limited tunnel vision in the left.

“Living so close to the sea, I have always loved being around water,” said Cattermole. “As well as giving me a sense of freedom on the water, sailing gives me the opportunity to gain important life skills, communication and team-working skills in particular.

Solent University has supported his sailing aspirations throughout his degree, where he is part of the high performance academy - which supports the university’s elite athletes.

He has also been taking part in Paralympic sonar sailing for the past six months and he is looking for sponsorship to enable him to continue.

BOSHAM

Entries for the 2013 Bosham Classic Boat Revival on July 6 and 7 are building steadily with open invitations being extended to more than 40 classes - Albacore, Cherub, Chichester Harbour 18, Devon Yawl, Enterprise, Europe, Fairy Falcon, Finn, Fireball, Firefly, 505, Flying Dutchman, International 14, GP14, Graduate, Hornet, Javelin, Jollyboat, Leader, Merlin Rocket, International Moth, National 12, National 18, OK, Osprey, Scorpion, Snipe, Solo, Sharpie, Torbay Minnow, Wayfarer & YW Dayboat.

Being held at Bosham Sailing Club over the weekend of July 6 and 7, this unique event is now in its third year - a mix of competitive racing on the water in Chichester Harbour and shoreside parties with live music to round off each day.

The event attracts keen interest from competitors from all the harbour sailing clubs and offers a wonderful opportunity to race against like minded sailors from other local clubs.

With the National 18 class Championships being held at Hayling Island Sailing Club two weeks later, a strong contingent of classic National 18s from all over the country are expected to race at Bosham to check out the conditions and the opposition.

To enter please visit http://boshamsailingclub.com/classic-boat-revival/

DELL QUAY

Dell Quay’s Early Trophy series continued in a light breeze. In Solo race seven of the series, Bill Dawber took first place, with Andy Gray second and Bill Munnery third.

Race eight had a very close start with Fred Hilgers leading off the line, but Dawber just crept ahead, sneaking through a gap in the line of cruisers to the first mark, and then extended his lead to finish first, followed by Bill Munnery second and John Purdy in third.

Light winds and a strong tide meant a tricky first beat for the 2000 fleet in race seven. Anne and Jim Norfolk were at one time fourth but they kept their cool and slowly worked their way up the fleet to take first place, pursued by Mike and Denise Fitzgerald in second and Roy and Beryl Dyton third.

In the second Trophy race of the day, the Norfolks made a better start and were first at the windward mark only to be passed by the Fitzgeralds. Later, the Norfolks overtook the Fitzgeralds and held on to first place, improving their lead.

There was close racing behind but the Fitzgeralds were secure in second closely followed by Warwick Hoddy and John Denyer.

In the Trophy Handicap races, Jean and Liz Sagues took first place in race seven with their Lymington Scow and secured second place in race eight. Second place in race seven went to Phoebe Noble (Byte), with Andrew Buchanan taking third in his Laser.

Patrick Johnston in his Laser Radial took first in race eight with third going to Roger Francis and Ranjit Verghese in the Buzz.

For the third race of the Evening Series, Richard Ede (Solo) and Ben Chrystall (Laser) dominated but Dawber (Solo) fought his way back to finish second, with Chrystall third.