Ruth Marrison who is deaf, will be competing in Skandia Cowes Week 2007 for the third year running along with her crewmembers Jacob Brett, Andy Kerr and her coach Richard Beardsley, all from Oxford Sailing Club.

Again, Ruth has managed to receive sponsorship, this time from Oxford Hearing Centre, who is a totally independent hearing aid dispensing practice where you are guaranteed completely impartial and professional advice for the complete solution to your hearing difficulty.

We are able to select systems and instruments from over eighty manufacturing companies worldwide to ensure that patients can confidently receive the most up to date help available. They have set up this clearer hearing initiative that will be publicised before Cowes 2007 and throughout the event with the help of Ruth and her crewmembers.

Ruth first got in to sailing when meeting her coach Richard Beardsley at the beginning of 2002. Since then she has not been able to stop sailing. Ruth says, “Sailing has given me the confidence as a deaf person and has made be think that anyone no matter if they are deaf or hearing they can achieve anything they want in their lives”. Ruth has known Andy Kerr and Jacob Brett for about 3 years. They both enjoy sailing and are keen to compete in Cowes 2007 along with Ruth and Richard.

Andy says, “I am very grateful for Ruth to have asked me to compete as one of her crew members. She is a very determined young lady and will achieve anything she wants to achieve”.

Jacob says, “I was so pleased to be asked to do Cowes 2007. I followed her last year and really looked up to what she had achieved through her sailing and receiving sponsorship”.

Ruth’s aim behind this idea is to get more and more deaf people in to the sport of sailing. Her confidence has grown since starting sailing so she wants to pass this on to other deaf people.

You can follow the progress of Ruth at clearerhearinginitiative@blogspot.com and help raise money for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf at www.justgiving.com/rnid-cowesweek07