2nd Sailing Bundesliga: Inclusive “BAT Sailing Team” takes part
Sailing is ideally suited to inclusion. Nevertheless, it is still rare in the racing sector. How well it can work there has been shown for several years by the “BAT Sailing Team” from Hamburg, a joint project of the North German Regatta Association and “Wir sind Wir Inclusion in Sailing eV”. This season, the inclusive crew is competing in the 2nd Sailing Bundesliga for the first time. From 12 to 14 July, the team will be competing in the second match day as part of the Warnemünder Woche at the start.
The "BAT Sailing Team" was created through a sailing workshop for blind and visually impaired people in Hamburg in September 2020. The visually impaired David Koch, a long-time competitive goalball athlete, was there. The physiotherapist was immediately infected with the water sports virus after the first workshop. "I enjoyed sailing and didn't want it to be a one-off activity. That's why I asked: 'What else can you sail with it?' That's how we came up with the regatta theme," explains the Hamburg native. The result: the crew's first participation in the Kiel Week 2021.
Since then, the "BAT Sailing Team" has continuously improved its sailing skills and regularly takes part in regattas with different line-ups. The crew's goal for the season is 14th place in the 2nd Sailing Bundesliga, which would mean staying in the league. The second of a total of five so-called match days (three racing days each) will take place in Warnemünde. After the first match day in Berlin, the team is in 16th place and hopes to set course for staying in the league starting tomorrow.
The races in the Sailing Bundesliga take place on provided boats, which are swapped around to ensure that sailing ability is the deciding factor. The league format is characterized by short, very intense races in which a lot of action is guaranteed and good tactics are required. "We see our participation in the 2nd Sailing Bundesliga in 2024 as a great opportunity to find out and show what is possible in inclusive sailing," says the "BAT Sailing Team".
The crew includes the visually impaired David Koch, who has 5 percent vision in one eye and 2 percent in the other. Nevertheless, the Hamburg native, who has been sailing for four years and has been a crew member of the BAT Sailing Team since day one, is finding his way around the J/70 "Blindfisch" very well. "At first I felt the boat and looked at it with my remaining eyesight," explains Koch. He now knows the boat practically blind, he says, and has to grin a little at the wording. "I'm really looking forward to the second day of racing in Warnemünde," he says.
Sailing as an inclusive team is definitely not a disadvantage in the regatta, says tactician Mieke Klein. On the contrary: the entire crew would have benefited from it, as communication on board has to be much more precise than with others in the class. "We are a completely normal crew," is the motto of the team, which also includes trimmer Jan Mense. Helmsman Marvin Hamm adds with regard to the match day in Warnemünde: "As a team, we have never sailed in Warnemünde before. We are definitely expecting more waves than at home on the Alster. I know the area well myself, as I once worked as a skipper on the Hohe Düne for a season." In order to be well prepared for the races, the team will have a two-hour sailing training session on the Baltic Sea off Warnemünde today.
