Ahead of the RS Venture Connect SCS World Championships 2024 we’re talking to the teams on the entry list! First in our series is GBR Team Jazz Turner & Adam Billany who are racing in the Inclusive Category.
Jazz is a GBR para-athlete who competes around the globe. Along with her sailing partner, Adam, she won silver at the RS Venture Connect World Championships 2023 and can’t wait for the competition this year…
Why did you sign-up to the RS Venture Connect World Championship?
“We signed up to the RS Venture Connect World Championship to see if we can win the gold medal this time. We have attended both the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, placing 11th and 2nd respectively. We are now looking to see what we can do at this World Championships, we would obviously love to win gold but we are against some amazing other sailors so can’t wait for the event to find out.”
What’s your sailing background?
“My sailing background is mostly in dinghies. My condition is progressive and so I didn’t transition into para classes until 2022. The majority of my sailing background is in Lasers and Fireballs. But I literally will sail and race anything anybody will let me. This means I have raced in catamarans, the Laser 2K, RS200, Sonars, 2.4mR, Hansa and RS Ventures just to name a few. I also do a lot of inshore yacht racing primarily on Sunfast 3200 and 3600 working as a navigator and tactician.”
How did you meet your teammate? What’s your favourite thing about sailing together?
Adam at the Allianz Sailing World Championships 2023
“Me and Adam actually got paired together by the RYA for the Oman Worlds in 2022. I don’t think he will mind me saying that our start together was somewhat disastrous. With me spending one training weekend being either too frustrated to talk to him or crying from being overwhelmed, I don’t think either of us thought it would go well together. Despite that something clicked during the 2022 Worlds and we’ve been racing together ever since. I would have to say my favourite thing about sailing together is that we have each other’s backs no matter what. Whether we win or lose we really are a team both on and off the water and we now have the most amazing friendship as a result. I definitely didn’t expect to make a friend for life out of sailing together but that is what has happened thanks to the RS Venture.”
Why do you choose to sail the RS Venture Connect?
“For me the RS Venture Connect is really special because it is a boat that anybody can compete in on a level playing field. When in the boat and on the water racing it doesn’t matter if you have a disability or not because the boat is the leveller. It creates a highly competitive but friendly environment. On the water we all give it the hardest and we are definitely competitive. But off the water I have made the most amazing friends and been able to travel all over the world to compete in some spectacular places. I love that the focus of the class is inclusion because I want to race against the best, regardless of whether they have a disability or not.
Jazz racing with the Canadian SailGP team at the WE Foundation SailGP One Sport Race 2023
Often those of us with disabilities are better than those without! There are not many boats where you can say you have raced against SailGP team members and won!”
What are you most looking forward to at the World Championships?
“For me the bit I am most looking forward to is getting to be together with everyone from all over the world and enjoy our time both on and off the water, sharing our passion for the boats. It obviously would be amazing to win but it’s much more than that. Plus, RS Sailing usually hosts a very good shore party so I am looking forward to what they have in store for us this year.”
Thanks to Jazz for the interview. Click here to find out more about the RS Venture Connect World Championship 2024.