Happy to be Lost at See

Even when the wind is a whisper, sailors Kylie Forth, Ryan Honschooten and Erin McGlew set out upon the Swan River as part of their Saturday morning ritual.

But as their keelboat casts an unremarkable setting amongst the river of boats, the team on board does quite the opposite - all three sailors are blind.

Lost at See training on the Swan River. Picture: Kate Ferguson

Skipper Kylie Forth is missing both eyes and a leg and says she prefers the weather when it’s rough.

“I’m a bit of a speed demon. I love it when you have the power of the wind rushing through the boat. If you set the boat up right you can just absolutely hoon along. I love the power, the control,” she said at the Royal Perth Yacht Club on Saturday.

The 28-year-old says she can’t remember life without blindness, losing both of her eyes to an aggressive Cancer called Retinoblastoma before the age of three.

At nine years of age the Cancer returned in another form, leaving doctors with no option but to amputate her leg. Now in remission, the disease has not affected her adventurous spirit.

“I’ve been skydiving and all sorts of random things but when I discovered sailing, I found my passion,” she said.

Kylie Forth training with Lost at See on the Swan River. Picture: Kate Ferguson

In 2006, Kylie won her first gold medal in sailing at an international blind match-racing regatta in Italy, where two boats race against each other using sounds to navigate the course.

The following year, Kylie took on the greater challenge as skipper. Needing another team member, she recruited Ryan Honschooten. The 40-year-old also lost both of his eyes to Retinoblastoma before the age of three. They named their team “Lost at See”.

Ryan remembers the initial conversation vividly; “Kylie rings me up. She was a little bit desperate and she said ‘I want you to come on a world match racing championships’. Without even thinking I said ‘yeah this is a great idea’ and after the first couple of training sessions I thought ‘hang on, what’s match racing?’” he laughed.

And it was at that international competition where Lost at Sea realised they had thrown themselves in the deep end. “We came stone cold last,” said Kylie “from the top of the world one year to the bottom of the world the next. I came home a bit demoralised and decided ‘well OK, we’ve got to get better’”.

The team threw themselves into training, ensuring they were prepared six months before each regatta. Kylie then recruited 29-year-old Erin McGlew in 2010. With a genetic eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, Erin says she got a ‘crash course’ in competitive sailing. Since then they have competed in both match and fleet racing competitions locally, as well as in Italy and Japan.

“I get a lot of fun out of being up the front,” said Erin “I’m not the one making the big calls and the big decisions. That’s Kylie up the back. When there’s a more serious, heavy air I get to be the one hanging out the side of the boat when it’s going really fast. I think I have the fun job.”

Erin McGlew training with Lost at See on the Swan River. Picture: Kate Ferguson

68-year-old Hunter Gillies, a fellow sailor at the Royal Perth Yacht Club, volunteered his time to build a sound navigation system to international standard, for the team to use during training. There are three buoys that emit sound, two form a start line and one is the windward mark, which they sail upwind towards. Hunter says each buoy has its own unique sound that is turned on and off depending where the competitors are on the course.

“The boat also has a device that detects which way the boat is leaning and which way the boom is, so the boats can track each other along the course, hearing roughly where they are and knowing which tack they’re on” Hunter said.

During training, the trio attracted the attention of coach Justin Kelleher. With 32 years of sailing experience, the 44-year-old is the former coach of five times 470-class world champion Nathan Wilmot. He donned a blindfold to gain a better understanding of the competition.

“It really did open my eyes that they deserve as much attention as any other sailor because they’re striving to achieve the same greatness. I want to help push these guys as hard as I possibly can,” said Justin.

Justin Kelleher coaching Lost at See on the Swan River. Picture: Kate Ferguson

In the past two years, the team has won silver at the International Association for Disabled Sailing Blind Match Racing World Championships.

“Justin thinks like a blind sailor and comes up with strategies. We train so much more than any other team… and we just keep charging up the ladder,” said Kylie.

Now the team are going for gold as they prepare to leave for the world championships in the United States to compete in the sport that brings Lost at See the adventure and outlet they crave.

“It’s my relaxation, it’s my debrief, my unwind. If I’ve had a bit of a stressful week, I jump on a boat, I go sailing and it’s like all of my problems are left on the shore for a couple of hours and when I come back it’s not as bad as it once seemed,” said Kylie.

The International Association for Disabled Sailing Blind Match Racing World Championships begins on September 9th at Sheboygan, Lake Michigan.

Watch Lost at See train for gold by clicking on the video at the top of the page.