Organizers, participants praise Porsche club's first-time Rally for the Blind

In many ways, the local Porsche rally Sunday morning was like any other. In one special respect, it was like very few ever held.

Each team had a driver and passenger-navigator. They left at timed intervals, in this case from North Charleston, on a trip to Clark's restaurant in Santee.

But rather than motorists taking directions from passengers spying maps and routes, they relied on navigators who couldn't see. Instead of glancing at a Mapquest-like piece of paper, they ran their fingers up and down pages in a booklet that had routes and road-turn information specially printed in braille.

The navigators and drivers took part in a novel event, the "Rally For The Blind," a time, speed and distance rally with blind navigators who read braille.

While a handful of such rallies have been held elsewhere, this was the first event of its kind for the Palmetto Porsche Club, based in Charleston, and likely the first involving any car group in the Carolinas, organizers said.

"I think this concept will spread across the country," said James Proper, sales and leasing consultant with Hendrick Acura in Charlotte and one of the drivers, as he inched his Porsche to the starting line.

"I think it's great, a wonderful opportunity to do something different," said Jeff Bazer, of Columbia, who is blind and was Proper's navigator. "I love sporty automobiles especially convertibles."

As with many rallies, the teams tried to maintain a pre-set speed, in this case 33 mph. The winner would be the team that comes closest to 33 mph all the way, or a trip of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 5 seconds.

As it turned out, Bazer and Proper finished first on the scenic course, which wound around Lake Moultrie and entered Santee from the west. They finished 1,365 seconds 22 minutes, 45 seconds off the optimum clocking. Michael Duck and navigator Peter Smith, both of Charleston, placed second, 1,880 seconds off a perfect score. And Herman Porter and W. Parnell Diggs, who is a Myrtle Beach attorney and state president of the Federation of the Blind, placed third at 2,255 seconds off pace.

Such events are expected to prove popular because they give blind people an outdoor activity, even a hobby, where they are actively taking part. In a rally, the navigator is at least as important as the driver, since the passenger must call out directions in a timely and accurate manner or the team faces getting lost or losing time. Most if not all the blind participants were navigating for the first time.

The drive started Sunday morning at Northwoods Mall parking lot and wrapped up at lunch time at the Santee eatery.

Organizers matched drivers and navigators, most with metal canes or seeing-eye dogs to help them get around. A few such as Smith rested his hand on partner Duck's shoulder as he at first slid into the driver's seat : yes, the driver's seat.

Actually, it was sort of joke. But Smith, who has retinitis pigmentosa, the same degenerative disease as Charleston Riverdogs owner Mike Veeck's daughter, did drive around the parking lot briefly before the start of the rally. He can identify shapes, such as the sky, but otherwise is sightless.

"He got it up to third gear," Duck said.

"It really went really well," said Scott Hornsby, who is membership chairman of Charleston-based Palmetto region of the Porsche Club of America. "Everybody had a great time."

Hornsby was mastermind of the event, having heard about a similar blind challenge involving Porsches in the Midwest. He contacted state officers with the Federation for the Blind, who were more than willing to take part. The chapter is most active in Columbia, the hometown of most of the dozen or so sightless navigators who took part Sunday.

Hornsby said the event raised $500 for the Federation for the Blind. He thanked "the folks at Tire Kingdom" who permitted participants to use their restrooms and volunteered to check tire pressure.

"We are definitely planning on it for next year," Hornsby said, noting he plans to build up publicity earlier and wants also to partner with another group, the Association for the Blind, which has a Charleston office.

The event, held on the 209th anniversary of blind-writing inventor Louis Braille's birth, took place as both a fundraiser and an effort by the club to try something new. Still, Dale Wolthoff of Columbia echoed the sentiments of many navigators: "It's going to be fun." Wolthoff, blind since birth, is a Chicago native who worked for 25 years in government service before retiring to the Midlands.

"Louis Braille is my hero, as far as I'm concerned," he said.

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com