Inside the Paralympic class boats

Sailing at the Paralympic Games is one of the only sports in which athletes of many different disabilities compete against each other on equal terms.

Not only does it offer equality across the fleets, the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games shows feats of human endeavour, and in sailing during the Games you see that endeavour go against and with nature. Just imagine New Zealand’s 49er team Peter Burling and Blair Tuke pulling in the spinnaker with their teeth. Can’t imagine it? Just tune in to the Paralympics to see it.  Want to see someone steer a boat by blowing in to a tube? Then tune in to the Paralympics to see it.
 
The upcoming Paralympic Games has so much to offer for the competitors and the viewing public. The adaptations on the boats, the 2.4 Norlin OD, SKUD18 and Sonar, allows a wide range of disabilities to compete in a beautiful backdrop of iconic sites like Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain. Just look at the images that came out of the Olympic Games. The Para athletes will have those same images in just a few weeks time.
 
Just watch the following video for a sneak peek inside the boats to see how the Para athletes sail their boats. From sip and puff steering to pulling the sheets in with their teeth.

 
The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will take place between 7-18 September in Rio de Janeiro and the sailing is scheduled to be raced between 12-17 September in Guanabara Bay.