NEWPORT BEACH — A tradition that began with 15 guests aboard a single sailboat more than three decades ago will return to Newport Harbor Oct. 10, 2026, when the American Legion Yacht Club hosts the annual Bonnie Lou Gibson Memorial Sail for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
The event, commonly known as SVI, brings blind and visually impaired participants and their escorts from throughout Southern California to Newport Beach for a day of sailing with volunteer skippers and crews. This year’s event begins at 9:00 a.m. at the American Legion Yacht Club, 215 15th Street.
SVI dates back to 1990, when Bonnie Gibson and Bobbie Reed of the Women’s Sailing Association – Orange County took 15 blind guests sailing aboard a single 40-foot sailboat.
The following year, American Legion Yacht Club Commodore J.T. Tarwater established ALYC as the event’s permanent host. Since then, the program has grown into one of the club’s longstanding philanthropic traditions and one of the larger events of its kind in Newport Harbor.
Today, putting SVI on the water requires considerably more than one sailboat.
More than 150 volunteers participate as skippers, crew members, dock escorts, meal servers, check-in staff, marina control personnel, and parking coordinators. Boat owners and members of neighboring yacht clubs also contribute vessels, time and experience to give participants an opportunity to experience Newport Harbor from the water.
Last year, nearly 100 guests participated under favorable sailing conditions, a turnout organizers hope to match again in 2026.
“Welcoming participants and their guides to Sail for the Visually Impaired is one of our club’s most rewarding traditions,” ALYC Vice Commodore Tammy Rones said. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to share our passion for sailing, and deeply thankful to the local sailing community whose support makes this event possible each year.”
For participants, however, the experience can go considerably further than simply riding aboard a sailboat.
Mickey Bennett, an organizer of the event, said skippers volunteer their boats and crews for SVI and are encouraged to give guests an opportunity to become active participants when they are comfortable doing so.
Depending on the vessel, conditions and individual guest, that can mean taking the helm, adjusting sails, or helping manage the rigging.
“The skipper makes the decision based on the guest enthusiasm and comfort-level with being part of the crew,” Bennett said.
Smaller sailboats can sometimes provide particularly good opportunities for interaction because guests are closer to the skipper, crew and controls of the vessel. Bennett said participating skippers have also noticed that some blind guests develop a surprisingly intuitive sense of what the sailboat is doing beneath them.
“Skippers have told me that many blind guests have a great feel for the boat and winds,” Bennett said.
That observation speaks to an important part of the SVI experience. Sailing is inherently sensory. Changes in the wind can be felt across the deck and through the sails. Waves can be heard against the hull, while the heel and movement of a vessel communicate changes in speed and direction.
A Day That Stays With Them
The impact of the Sail for the Blind and Visually Impaired can extend far beyond a few hours on Newport Harbor. After the 2025 event, one guest told Commodore David Campagnari that it had been the best day of his year because it was the first time in a year that he had been able to leave his apartment.
Another participant summed up the experience even more powerfully after an earlier sail.
“If I die tomorrow, my life is now complete,” she said.
For the volunteers who make the event possible, moments like these are a reminder that a day on the water can mean much more than simply going sailing.
For someone who cannot rely primarily on sight, those other elements of sailing can take on greater significance.
Giving guests an opportunity to take the helm or work with the sails also changes the experience from simply providing a boat ride to allowing participants to become part of the crew.
That opportunity is one reason the event has continued to resonate with participants and Newport Harbor sailors more than 35 years after it began.
According to Bennett, the experience can be just as meaningful for the people volunteering their boats and time.
“The volunteers receive as much emotional reward as the guests,” Bennett said.
In fact, organizers generally receive more volunteer interest than they can accommodate and have had to turn away prospective volunteers in previous years. Demand from participants has also reached the capacity of the American Legion Yacht Club facility, limiting how many guests can be accommodated for the day.
That popularity creates an unusual logistical challenge.
Organizers have to carefully match the number of blind and visually impaired guests with the available seats aboard volunteer sailboats. Too many boats can leave skippers and crews who prepared their vessels without passengers to take sailing. Too few can mean interested guests are left ashore.
“It has not always been the perfect match of boat seats and desired guests,” Bennett said. “However, we do this for the benefit of people who may never have the experience if it was not for all the land and water Newport Harbor sailing community volunteers.”
That balancing act demonstrates just how dependent SVI remains on the broader sailing community.
Volunteers are needed not only aboard the boats but throughout the yacht club and marina. Ashore, they assist with check-in, meals, parking and moving guests safely between the club, docks and vessels. On the water, experienced skippers and crews are responsible for providing a safe environment while giving participants as much opportunity as possible to experience sailing firsthand.
The program reflects the American Legion Yacht Club’s broader emphasis on community service while bringing together sailors from ALYC and neighboring yacht clubs for a shared purpose.
More than 35 years after Gibson and Reed first welcomed 15 guests aboard a 40-foot sailboat, the scale of SVI may have changed, but the fundamental idea has not.
It is not simply about taking someone onto Newport Harbor for the day. It is about giving them the opportunity to feel the wind fill a sail, put a hand on the helm and experience what sailors already know: there are many ways to understand what a boat is doing on the water.
The Bonnie Lou Gibson Memorial Sail for the Blind and Visually Impaired will take place Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the American Legion Yacht Club in Newport Beach.
