Three teams of blind sailors raced one mile through Boston Harbor on Tuesday steering their boats by feeling the wind.

The four-man team composed of skipper Matthew Chao, Bruce Howell and two trained guides, all legally blind, won the race from the Charlestown Navy Yard to the Boston Harbor Hotel to become the first champion of the annual event organized by the Carroll Center for the Blind (CCB).

Chao, who was born blind, has competed in seven world championships for blind sailors and won a silver medal in 1997 and a bronze medal in 2006, according to Boston.com. He learned to sail as a student at the Perkins School for the Blind and trained at the CCB before joining the race.

The CCB organized the race that kicked off the Sail Boston 2009 as part of its SailBlind program, which teaches blind and visually impaired adults and children "the art and science of sailing".

"You don't need vision to sail. There are blind sailors that can trim sails and steer the boat through the harbor just by asking the right questions," said Arthur O'Neill, director of SailBlind, according to Bostonherald.com.