Blind Navigator’s Rally hailed a success despite challenging weather

Despite relentless downpours and slick roads, the Paarl leg of the annual Blind Navigator’s Rally went ahead on Saturday (10 May) and was hailed a resounding success.

Braving the wet weather, teams of sighted drivers and their blind or visually-impaired navigators tackled the route with grit, precision and camaraderie. The challenging conditions only added to the sense of adventure, as participants proved that determination and trust could overcome even the stormiest obstacles.

The Blind Navigator’s Rally is a unique motorsport event designed to highlight the abilities and courage of visually impaired individuals. Here blind or visually-impaired participants serve as navigators, while sighted drivers take the wheel.

The navigators use a Braille Route Schedule or to guide the drivers along a specific course at a specific speed. There are two people in the competing car, the driver and the navigator (the latter at the request of the navigators; also, no passengers are allowed as they are “an extra set of eyes”.)

The driver must identify the instructions, keep on the set route and ensure the set speeds are strictly adhered to. A number of controls are set up along the route where each competitor’s time of arrival is recorded on their score sheet. The organisers know the ideal time each competitor should be at these controls, and competitors are penalised 1 point for every second early or late arrival. The winner is the team that has the lowest total number of penalty points for all the controls.

This year Ronan Sanderson and his navigator Marius Coetzee took the trophy home with a low penalty score of 61. They were followed by the duo Alta Colyn and Bertun Colyn with a penalty score of 172 and in third place David Frey and Martin Swart with 190.

The South African Regularity Rally Association (SARRA), responsible for organising the annual event, was formed in the early 1990s to promote and encourage the return of the low-cost form of motorsport that had been overshadowed in the early 1980s by the fast special stage rallying on closed roads which required special cars that were beyond the means of a number of both older and younger enthusiasts.

In 2007 SARRA started assisting the people in the Western Cape who were, and still are, running the Blind navigators’ Rallies, not only with their expertise but also with equipment to ensure the events are run in accordance with Motorsport South Africa’s regulations.

“This rally truly serves as an opportunity for the blind and visually impaired to be included in motorsport,” said Roger Manton, events coordinator for SARRA in the Western Cape. “What other competitive motorsport can a blind person compete in? None. This they can do.