Profile – Lawrence Euteneier
By Justin Hoffman
Giving “sight” to visually-impaired anglers…

The world is full of inspirational figures. In the fishing and outdoors field, Lawrence Euteneier is one. His love affair with angling and boating began at age five, with cane pole, plywood punt, and a pond stocked with trout. Fishing at the family cottage became a rite of summer. By age eight, however, he was registered as blind.

Although adversity often makes one stronger, it also made this Ottawa angler more determined. The diagnosis was not going to slow him down.

“For 20 years I owned and operated a 12-foot aluminum boat. By age 25 I could no longer see enough to go out on my own, and began dreaming about a technology that would allow me to navigate. For 15 years I pestered a local Canadian company, HumanWare, to build me a GPS system that I could use on the water. Their latest offering, the Trekker Breeze, has addressed many of my requirements.”

Not content with that alone, Euteneier went on to invent the world’s first fishing boat for the blind. Weighing 90-pounds and reaching speeds of 7km/h, this craft has all the bells and whistles needed to get him back on the water. His latest creation, the world’s first talking fishing boat, is an 1850 Ranger Reata that utilizes synthesized speech.

“With assistance from my sponsors, I’ve been able to focus on developing and sea-trialing technologies of interest to anglers with vision loss. This includes talking compasses, GPS and depth sounders, and beeping homing and obstacle detection devices.”

With 11 million North Americans estimated to be living with significant vision loss, and with that number expected to rise along with our aging population, the work Euteneier does is opening the doors to many.

“It’s my goal that everyone with vision loss has the opportunity to learn about and try the sport of fishing. I also want to raise the public’s awareness of fishing as an inclusive sport. People with vision loss live among sighted people, as well as go to school and work along side sighted people. It makes sense that fishing is something we can all do together as well.”

Not content with fishing alone, Euteneier also enjoys backwoods canoe camping, competitive dragon boat racing, triathlons, and participating in a celebrity blind car race. He is also a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General for his work in breaking down barriers for people with disabilities.

“I’m likely the only blind person in Ontario to have a hunting license, and use to participate actively in the spring bear hunt. I would for-go the tree stand and instead place myself about 25 feet from the bait. Large, furry black target on bright green background, and I generally got my bear. When I didn’t though, avoiding being run over by a startled animal was always a potential hazard!”

Lawrence Euteneier is a champion crusader for the visually impaired. Not only is he passionate, caring, and innovative, he is also one of the most down to earth and friendly guys you could ever wish to meet. The fishing world is a lucky one to have him among its ranks.

To learn more about Euteneier’s work, please visit - www.blindfishingboat.com