The 2006 Homerus International Autonomous Blind Match Racing Championship will take place in Imperia, Italy (near the French border) from May 22-27, 2006. The 2005 Champions, Paul Borg and Don Scott from Australia, will return to defend their trophy. Allessandro Malipiero and Luigi Bertanza of Italy would want to improve on their 2nd and 3rd places from the last year event. Sailors competing in this event must fall under the International Blind Sports Federation participant category, classified as B1 or B2 - effectively totally blind. The event is held as per International Sailing Federation’s rules and regulations, which have been amended to suit the needs of blind sailors. The championships are sailed in two matched 6-metre Meteor keelboats by a two-person crew with a sighted umpire on board. Three ‘beeping buoys’, each with a unique signal, define the course, and each boat has a sound signal that changes when on port or starboard tack. The six-day event would have teams from Australia, Israel and Italy, from whom entries have been sought. Another 10 nations are expected to send their teams. Following the racing tournament, the ‘First Annual Autonomous Blind Sailors Conference’ will be held on May 28 for sailors, coaches, umpires and sailing administrators. To find out more about the sport of sailing, visit the sailing pages in our Sports Section