An interview with Duane Farrar about the 2024 Boston Blind Open Regatta

Sailors at Community Boating, Inc, in Boston, ahead of the annual Boston Blind Open Regatta © Community Boating, Inc.

Sailboat racing is a wonderful pursuit for a whole lot of reasons, from competition levels and crew work to adaptability and inclusivity. The Boston Blind Open Regatta (August 31, 2024), which is being hosted and organized by Community Boating, Incorporated, in Boston, Massachusetts, ticks all of these boxes while also delivering great racing and good times afloat for all involved.

The event, which began in 2016, is contested aboard CBI's fleet of Sonars on the historic waters of the Charles River Basin, between the Longfellow Bridge and the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge.

Each team is comprised of four sailors, with a blind helmsperson and a blind mainsail trimmer, in addition to a sighted tactician and a sighted crewmember. Teams rotate boats between races to ensure equipment parity.

I checked in with Duane Farrar, who is the founder of the Boston Blind Open Regatta, the VP of Boston Blind Sailing, Inc., the board director of Community Boating Boston, a three-time World Sailing Blind Fleet Racing champion, and a three-time U.S. Blind Sailing national champion, via email, to learn more about this exciting regatta.

Racecourse action at Community Boating Inc.'s annual Boston Blind Open Regatta - photo © Community Boating, Inc.

Can you please give us an overview of the Boston Blind Open Regatta, its history, and its culture?

The Boston Blind Open (BBO) was founded in 2016 to give blind sailors and sighted guides an additional annual opportunity to practice their skills in a competitive setting. Blind sailing in Boston has a long history going back to 1978, with racing being introduced in 1991.

For many years there were two annual regattas, the Blind Sailing National Championship held each August at Sail Newport in Rhode Island, and the Harry S. McDonough Memorial Regatta held each September at the Courageous Sailing Center in Boston.

The BBO was created in response to the discontinuation of both of these long-running regattas to ensure that a blind sailing regatta remained on the calendar.

What kinds of sailors does the Boston Blind Open Regatta tend to attract? Are we talking about former Paralympic medalists and other elite-level sailors, or is this event aimed more at beginner-level racers?

While created mainly for Boston area blind and visually impaired racers and guides, the BBO welcomes sailors from anywhere. The skill levels range from beginning racers to national and world champions.

Do teams have to arrive pre-formed, or will the Community Boating team work with interested sailors to help them create teams? Also, are teams able to practice aboard Community Boat's Sonars ahead of the event?

Teams can arrive fully formed or individuals can be matched up with other sailors to form a team for the regatta.

The BBO is intended to be a fun, low-cost event. Community Boating makes their Sonars available for practice prior to the regatta.

In addition, sailors are welcome to participate in Boston Blind Sailing's weekly, Thursday evening practice sessions that are also hosted at Community Boating.

Racecourse action at Community Boating Inc.'s annual Boston Blind Open Regatta - photo © Community Boating, Inc.

Weather-wise, what kinds of conditions can sailors expect to encounter on the Charles River in early September? What are the best-case and worst-case scenarios?

Well, it being the Charles River, sailors can pretty much expect just about anything being directed at them from just about any direction!

September and October are often characterized by warm, sunny days with steady breezes, but it being New England, conditions can change quickly. And, the river winds can range anywhere from light, variable and oscillating to 20-plus [knot] gusts with a 30-plus degree [wind] shift.

And it can, and probably will, rain here or be cool and cloudy. Bring your layers and come prepared!

What kind of course shapes do you anticipate that the Boston Blind Open Regatta will use? Triangles? Windward-Leewards? Or something different?

Windward-Leeward courses are the norm. This year we may include the use of audible buoys that are used in blind match racing as an additional aid for the blind sailors.

This is particularly helpful for newer racers who are less familiar with a racecourse and are still trying to understand exactly where they are on the water.

What's the Boston Blind Open Regatta's onshore scene like? Can you please give us some local color, based on your experience at previous editions of the event?

The BBO is hosted at the Community Boating facility, [which is] located on the Charles River Esplanade at the foot of Boston's historic Beacon Hill neighborhood, a stone's throw from the Hatch Shell that hosts the annual Boston Pops 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular.

Community Boating has a vast array and number of sailboats, windsurfers and kayaks, and on weekends, the dock is buzzing with activity. We share our sailing area between Boston and Cambridge with Harvard University and MIT. The view of myriad sailboats gliding back and forth in the Charles River Basin is an iconic Boston scene.

A short walk from the Esplanade over one of the Storrow Drive footbridges brings you into the heart of historic Boston with its many shops, restaurants and attractions. Boston is a very walkable city and a short excursion from Community Boating can bring you to many historic points of interest.

We usually end each regatta with a dockside BBQ and awards ceremony.

Sailors at Community Boating, Inc, in Boston, ahead of the annual Boston Blind Open Regatta - photo © Community Boating, Inc.

What kinds of volunteer opportunities exist at Boston Blind Open Regatta? Also, how can interested volunteers get involved?

We are always looking for experienced sighted racers to act as racing guides for blind sailors. We also welcome volunteers who can help out on the water with setting up the course, acting as race committee or helping to steer non-racing craft away from the course (the Charles River Basin is a very busy place!).

Interested volunteers can contact Community Boating's Director of Sailing Programs, Sam Peirson, at (617) 523-1038 or sam@community-boating.org.

Can you tell us about any efforts that you and the other regatta organizers have made to try to lower the regatta's environmental footprint or otherwise green-up the regatta?

We include reusable, Community Boating-branded water bottles as part of our prize packages. In 2017, through funding from 11th Hour Racing, we installed an energy-efficient water-bottle filling station.

Is there anything else that you'd like to add about this year's Boston Blind Open Regatta, for the record?

We are always looking for more blind sailors and sighted guides to participate and we would happily welcome them to our regatta!