Fiona once told us that she finds being on a boat actually helps to counteract some of the symptoms of her multiple sclerosis. “Because with MS you get a lot of coordination problems,” she explained, “I find that if I just go on a boat or anything which has an opposite motion to what I’m used to – it makes my coordination better. Funnily enough, I actually find it easier on a boat because I’m always like that if you know what I mean.” Now, it’s not clear if her experience is something that would be universally agreed on but it got us thinking about how accessible disabled sailing is. If nothing else, it was another angle on the many ways in which sailing can be beneficial.
Disabled sailing is well organised and it’s relatively easy for anybody to give it a go. There are certainly more common reasons for going sailing than to counteract your lack of balance with a moving boat. For one, it’s a good way to keep healthy, both physically and mentally, and people really enjoy it. Above all sailors, whether less able or able bodied, speak of a sense of freedom that they get when there out on the water, away from it all. It’s a different experience to anything you can do on dry land and people seem to adore that about it. Then there’s also a social element to it. A community spirit exists amongst sailors which is very friendly and appealing. Plus, you get to wear deck shoes all the time if you want to. If any of this appeals to you, you should look into disabled sailing.
The Royal Yachting Association, which governs all forms of boating in the UK, has set up a service to help disabled people get into sailing. It’s called Sailability and it’s done a lot of positive work getting people out onto the water. Around 38,000 people with a disability have been able to experience sailing and sail regularly thanks to Sailability. You can learn to sail from scratch in one of several ranges of accessible dinghies or go for trips on larger adapted yachts with accessibility features. It really is possible for nearly everybody – somebody even sailed the channel using a straw to steer the yacht!
There are many places where you can try sailing in the UK which have a wide range of special facilities and volunteers to help. Many sailing clubs are equipped with hoists, launching ramps and specially adapted changing rooms. There are also lots different types of boat you can try out. You don’t need to have any sailing experience to go along and give it a go as long as you go to the right place. So what would be the best place?
There are about 200 sailing clubs in the UK with some level of disabled facilities. Of these, some are RYA Training Centres where sail training is offered. The best places for novices are the sites that have been awarded Sailability Centre Of Excellence status for their dedication to disabled sailing. To achieve this they have had to provide sailing to 9 or more categories of disability for at least three years. Since these are the outstanding sites for disabled sailing, Sailability recommend that newcomers try to get in touch with one of them to get started. There are currently nine centres of excellence spread around the country, click here to find your local one.
Alternatively, if you have more experience or perhaps if you just don’t live near enough to one of these centres, there are 145 clubs around the country which are affiliated with Sailability. You can find your nearest centre here – select Sailability centre in the ‘show me’ drop down list. You’ll then need to ask them about their accessibility prior to going.
For people who already know how to sail but need to adapt their own boats to suit their mobility needs, that is very achievable. The Sailability Equipment Directory has over one hundred different items to help make sailing more accessible. These include hoists, talking compasses, electric winches and even boats (the most accessible boats). There are so many products to aid less able sailors.
Sailing is a liberating, social and varied pastime. It can be one of the most peaceful activities you can think of yet it can get adrenaline racing through you. It can be as calm or frenzied as you like – it really depends on how you want to approach it and with Sailability it is possible to be as relaxed or extreme about things as you want. If you’re really competitive and want to take things to the next level then there is room to do so. In fact, sailing is one of the very few sports in which able-bodied sailors and disabled sailors can participate on equal terms.
To find out more before you give sailing a try you can visit the Sailability website where they have lots of videos about different disabled sailing clubs and how they’ve been getting less able people involved. Another place to check out is the International Association for Disabled Sailing website which has a useful manual for disabled sailors containing information for sailors and event organisers. It’s all about how to assist disabled people to actively participate.
Getting involved in sailing is possible for everyone. What Aerobility does for the skies, Sailability does for the seas. It definitely looks like something to get involved in this summer.
There is also wheelchair accessible yachts that can be accessed through the RoRo sailing project.
If you every fancy the idea of sailing on a Tall Ship contact the Jubilee Sailing Trust – http://www.jst.org.uk The ‘Lord Nelson and ‘Tenacious’ are design specially so able-bodied and disabled people can sail together.