I am Skipper of the Lost At See Blind Sailing Team, the only team to represent Australia in the 2019 World Blind Sailing (Fleet-Racing) Championships in Kingston Canada. 

My team won Silver in the totally blind division of the 2013 Fleet-Racing Worlds, and Gold in the 2014 Match-Racing Worlds. After a hiatus due to my cancer diagnosis in 2014, and middling results in 2017-18, I am aiming for the podium again this year. 

I am excited to welcome Colin Harrison, Paralympic Sailing Gold and Bronze medallist, as my sighted Tactician. He will join my long-term totally blind mainsheet hand Erin McGlew, and our new sighted jib trimmer Todd Back. We will be supported by Karen Jander as team medic and guide. I am looking forward to trying out my newly-revamped team on the world stage. 

Competing in this event will not only help me to fulfil my dream of winning Gold in Blind Fleet-Racing, it will have a much wider impact on blind sports in Australia. My team’s participation on the world stage will raise the profile of blind sailing in the community and will encourage other people with vision impairments to take up the sport, ultimately increasing the pool of blind sailors in Australia.

As we are largely self-funded, I urgently need your help to raise $10,000 to cover such costs as the entry fee and damage deposit, as well as my travel and accommodation. Even $25 will help bring me that much closer to Canada.

With only weeks to go until the championship, I need your help to get me to Kingston, and to fulfil my dream of winning Gold for Australia. 

Through my partnership with the Australian Sports Foundation, any donation you can give over $2 is tax deductible and will go a long way to getting me to Worlds!

Thank you so much for your encouragement and generosity.