Dani A. Pich becomes first blind person to sail solo, unaided around the Isle of Wight
by Yes We Sail 28 Jul 11:26 UTC
24 July 2025
Dani A. Pich enters the record books as the first blind person to sail solo, unaided around the Isle of Wight © YES WE SAIL
Dani Anglada Pich, a blind athlete from Catalonia, sailed into the history books after a successful circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight solo on Thursday 24th July, in a total time of 13 hours and 8 minutes. What is even more remarkable is that Dani achieved the feat in a rudder-less, centre-board-less catamaran, boomless, called a 'Patí a Vela - Patí Català', that requires incredible sailing skill to handle, using body position and sail trim to steer.
It was a tough circumnavigation with Dani seeing all states of wind and an adverse current throughout the challenge, but it started with a blistering run from the Royal Yacht Squadron starting line with RYS Secretary Patricia Lewington personally firing a cannon to signal the start of the challenge. Dani flew up the north shore to Lymington, hitting speeds of 12 knots and arrived in under an hour. A quick stop to pick up the support RIB with three-time Round the Island race winner Simon Rogers onboard, saw Dani then set off to the Needles where the wind dropped to a zephyr.
Around the back of the Island, the call was made to head offshore some eight miles to find the gradient wind, but it was tough with a tricky sea state. "The leg to St Catherine's was incredibly challenging," reflected Dani, "On the offshore gybe it felt good with the sea state, but every time I tried to come back into the land, the waves would kick up the stern of the boat and make it uncontrollable."
Dani persisted with remarkable determination and passed the St Catherine's lighthouse in the middle of the afternoon. Fortunately, the sea state was sleight, and he headed off down to Sandown Bay and the Culver Down headland where new breeze came in from the north-west. This was to be Dani's toughest point of the challenge as he approached the southern side of Bembridge Ledge where standing waves picked up and the wind strength intensified.
"It was a very stressful half an hour. I couldn't understand the sea state and the boat was starting to stress. I could hear the plywood creaking and groaning like never before and genuinely I was worried about whether I could get through."
Magnus Wheatley, himself a winner of the Round the Island Race, most recently aboard the MOD70 'Powerplay Zoulou' in 2025, was navigating Dani across the Bembridge Ledge from a small 4.8m RIB behind and commented: "I could see that Dani was struggling but we had done a very tough training session a few days before in bigger seas and winds, so I had every faith in Dani's sailing ability. He was incredible, tacking on every command inshore and when we chose the moment to go across the Ledge, it was a lot of relief for him from myself and Christian Palau who was relaying messages to Dani in Spanish."
Once passed the headland, Dani sailed up past the Bembridge Lifeboat station and was then navigated offshore to miss the boats at Seaview and for a successful crossing of the Ryde Sands on a good sailing angle ahead of the final leg to Cowes. With the sun setting and the wind dropping, the support team were worried that he might not make it, but a beautiful series of zephyrs filtered in, aligned with favourable tide, and Dani crossed the line at the very limit of his physical and mental limits. Standing on the Parade were well-wishers who cheered his arrival back to Cowes and Dani dropped to the deck of his boat in tears of elation. Mission accomplished.
The team returned to the East Cowes Sailing Club who have been magnificent hosts to Dani and the team, with Commodore Peter Ball saying: "It was one of the finest moments in the club's history and all of us at ECSC are proud to have played our part in Dani's challenge. We had a barbecue to celebrate, and the Mayor of East Cowes awarded Dani with honorary citizenship of the town in recognition of his incredible achievement. As a club, we presented Dani with a trophy to mark such an historic event, and he is welcome to come back anytime. It has been a privilege as a club to help him make history."
Magnus Wheatley further added: "I am lucky enough to go all over the world watching and writing about grand prix and dinghy sailing. In 35 years, I have never seen such determination and skill in a sailor, and I rate Dani amongst the highest echelons of the greats of the sport of sailing. It's incredible to witness. After 10 minutes following him you forget that he is blind, and I am so delighted that he has achieved his dream. He is a lesson in determination and fortitude."
The aim of Dani's trip was to raise awareness around getting the sport of sailing re-included in the Paralympic Games for Brisbane in 2032, as well as proving to the world that blind sailors have no limits to what they can achieve. Supported by Grant Dalton, the CEO of America's Cup winners Emirates Team New Zealand, and backed by Dani's YES WE SAIL Association, he has advanced disability sailing and its perception around the world and is now planning an ambitious challenge to compete on Lake Leman in the annual Bol D'Or Mirabaud race in 2026.
"I have to thank so many people who supported my challenge around the Isle of Wight, and especially the East Cowes Sailing Club for treating me as a sailor and seeing beyond my disability. I have been met with nothing but positivity from the very first day that we arrived in East Cowes and I have made friends for life. Instead of saying "no" everyone said "yes" and made the challenge possible. I also give my thanks to all of my sponsors: Port Masnou, Club Nautic Masnou, Immunotec, Rooster, Top Sailing Charter, Kyndryl, Isidre Esteve Foundation, Abordo Sailing and Save Sight Now Europe. Thank you to everyone involved."