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Episode #55: Walt Raineri on Learning to Adapt

By Nicki Bennett | August 30, 2022

A note from this week’s host Moe Roddy:

I had the amazing opportunity to interview Walt Raineri this past week. Normally I try to keep the interview down to less than 50 min as I’m not sure I can hold the listener’s interest much longer and I suspect most people don’t have the kind of time it takes to listen to a podcast for much longer than that. But once Walt started sharing his story, I was a captive audience and could have listened for hours and hours. Imagine what it must take to be totally blind and sail a boat competitively. OK, forget sailing for a moment, how about how you live your life and adapt from being sighted to total blindness in a 5-month period?

You know the movie line, “You had me a hello”? Well, Walt had me at hello, consequently this podcast ran way over in time because I didn’t want to stop listening to him, so please forgive me that this is a rather long podcast this week but like me, I hope he has you at hello and I sincerely hope you find the time to listen to this interview in its entirety.

This week’ Moe Roddy sits down with Walt Raineri to chat about his incredible story of perseverance and life lessons for fellow sailors. Walt is an attorney, accountant, entrepreneur, extreme sports athlete, and accomplished match racer. At the age of 45, he lost his sight – and discovered he could reconnect with the planet through sailing and blind match racing.

Hear how blind match racing works, what Walt does better now that he’s blind, how to find ways to adapt and keep moving, deal with tough moments, and the rules he lives by. This episode covers everything from life lessons to blind match racing.


 

Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

  • Was Walt born sighted?
  • How did he get into sailing?
  • Do the umpires have a specific sound they make?
  • What is the Swedish Classic?
  • How do you prepare for blind match racing?
  • What is BAADS (Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors)?
  • How do you become more inclusive?
  • Short Tacks: Who’s inspired Walt the most in his life?

Learn more at BAADS.org.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your other favorite podcast spots – follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes.

Check out the episode and show notes below for much more detail.

Show Notes

Thanks for listening to Walt Raineri & Moe Roddy on Good Jibes with Latitude 38. Subscribe here to receive Latitude 38 to your home each month.

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