Sailability Australia

Sailability Australia is a non-profit, volunteer organization which enriches the lives of people with any type of disability, the elderly, the financially and socially disadvantaged, by providing affordable, accessible sailing activities and education to children and adults of all ages and abilities, focusing on community integration to improve the quality of life for all involved. Operating in every state and territory, coordinated by a national committee of Yachting Australia.

Objectives

Sailability Australia's key objective is to encourage and facilitate sailing and boating throughout Australia for people with disabilities in social, recreational and competitive activities. The specific objectives of Yachting Australia’s Sailability Committee are:

• To serve as a national body to advance opportunities within yachting (sailing and boating) for people with disabilities.
• To promote the inclusion of people with disabilities within all mainstream yachting activities.
• To promote yachting as fun, safe and rewarding activities in which people with disabilities can participate.
• To develop national safety and procedural policies for Sailability activities.
• To develop and promote accredited training opportunities for persons involved in Sailability activities.
• To develop and promote regattas and championship events at the national level for people with disabilities in association with affiliated bodies of the Australian Yachting Federation.
• To liaise with sporting, health and educational bodies, government agencies and other relevant organisations to further the interests of Sailability Australia.
• Facilitate communication on Sailability issues with (State & Territory) Member Yachting Associations
• Promote Sailability as a key avenue for building broad participation in yachting in accordance with Yachting Australia’s Strategic Plan.

Giving folk with disabilities a day on the water, on a Payne 24 hosted by Sailability Tasmania in Hobart.

Benefits

There are clear personal benefits from the Sailability Program, for moderately to severely disabled, fully abled, from the youngest to the oldest …where for many, sailing is often the only activity in which they can participate independently.

It is a reasonable hypothesis that people with a disability who engage in regular sailing activities will have an improved general standard of health and an increase in morale and self-esteem. This in turn should lead to less pressure on carers, less illness and potentially less hospitalization. The benefits which come to mind are both physical and psychological. They include: socialization, sense of belonging, sensory stimulation, and increased self-esteem and as a bonus, a positive effect on carers (who often go sailing themselves).

Other benefits come from the light exercise associated with sailing, and also as an adjunct to rehabilitation. For people with disabilities, sailing bestows a feeling of independence and for the more energetic, the stimulus of competition. It can be argued that sailing is a relatively gentle sport, with less exposure to physical danger.

Access to the sailing experience

The first obstacle to overcome in providing for inclusive sailing is to make the venue and its facilities as accessible as possible. Some of these provisions tend to have backing in law, but some need to be consciously planned, for use by disabled participants. The pontoons require bases for hoists to lift sailors into and out of boats.

The central operation on the marina is moving the sailor into and out of the boat. This involves a manual hoist. To start the process, a sling is slid under the sailor’s backside and crossed over under the legs. The sling’s four strap connections (two behind and two in front) are then hooked onto the spreader bar. The volunteer then raises the sailor from his chair, swings him or her over the boat. The spreader bar swivels so that the sailor body can be nudged to be facing forward as he/she is lowered into the seat.

The carrying limit is 120kgs and the system complies with ISO 10535. It is also used routinely to lift able-bodied children into the boat. Taking the sailor out of the boat is the same process in reverse. The hand-operated winch is geared, has a brake to keep movement slow as well as a fall arrestor.

Developing an integrated sailing program

For both volunteers and sailors, Yachting Australia and Sailability Australia is working with state Sailability organizations and Member Yachting Associations to adopt a uniform approach to training, integration, pathways etc. Part of the mission of Sailability Australia is to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities within all sailing activities. The emphasis is on sailing for its fun, straightforward instruction and affordability. This means growing the number of mainstream yacht clubs that conduct inclusive sailing programs. This sometimes means a change of attitude at yacht clubs. Yachting Australia is also working with larger yacht clubs where this is no Sailability program with Project Connect to make club members aware of their responsibilities.

All registered members are welcome on regular sail days conducted most weekends except mid-winter. In addition, virtually every Sailability branch or program caters for folk who attends special schools and agencies. Most have scheduled weekday sail days.

Sailing Equipment

Sailability collaborates with boat designers for the supply of sailing dinghies that are accessible and user-friendly. Access is the most popular design amongst Sailability sailors. Australian-designed Access dinghies incorporate user -friendly features and optional modifications. Applications suit from able bodied to severely disabled and everyone in between. Access dinghies have been designed on the seven principles of Universal Design.

2000 Access dinghies are being sailed 30 countries. The Access range of four different designs provides a pathway from leisure sailing all the way to the Paralympics using the SKUD 18 the first two person boat to be accepted into the Paralympics. Special Olympics is another direction for talented sailors with intellectual disabilities.

Features include roller-reefing on main and jib sails for easy size adjustment, ballasted centre-board so that the boat cannot capsize, a concave hull for additional stability, and control lines for sails which fit into easy-action clam cleats.

The cockpit of the Access is designed for comfort and security. Instead of a tiller, the joystick operates by pushing to the left to turn (or tack) to the left and ditto to the right. The sailor is facing forward with no need to shift body weight out onto the gunwale to balance the boat.

This is the late and great Andrew Hartley, the only ventilated quadriplegic to ever compete in a world championship, in any sport. Andrew is seen here controlling the boat with a chin operated 4 way servo or power-operated joystick, and a wand mounted magnet reed switch activated by a magnet taped to his cheek that connect to a relay in the reed. This is the probably the highest development of ancillary control equipment, and demonstrates that there is virtually no disability that cannot be catered for.

Within a number of Sailability programs, there are a number of keelboats. The Sonar and Salvo 24 (Payne) can take several crew with moderate disabilities. These boats are popular in more open waters and also for larger mid-week disability groups with the emphasis a fun day on the water. The 2.4mR is a Paralympic class solo craft.

Volunteering and support

With the exception of a part-time administration person in WA (RPYC) and Victoria (Yachting), Sailability is totally volunteer-operated. Volunteers are needed on boats, on the pontoon, barbecue or in administration. Sailability survives largely by the generosity of the community. The public can help fund the growth of Sailability in by becoming a donor or sponsor to a local branch or program. Sailability is a registered charity, so donations are tax-deductible.

Sailability organization

Sailability comprises eight state associations, coordinated through Yachting Australia. Each is not for profit, each a registered charity, Around 65 Sailability programs are operating in Australia, wworking with yachting associations, yacht and sailing clubs, disability networks and boat designers. Some 50,000 sailing experiences are provided per year.

Sailability Australia is the Australian arm of the international Sailability movement. Australian sailors with disabilities are represented nationally by delegates on Yachting Australia’s Sailability Committee (nominated by the eight State/Territory Yachting Associations) and internationally through Yachting Australia’s membership of Sailability World, the International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) and the Australian Paralympic Committee.

Sailability Australia is one of 16 national Sailability organizations. The Sailability movement has close operational links with the Access Class Association, Special Olympics Australia (Sailing), and Blind Sailing Australia.

Finding a Sailability program close to home

There are active Sailability associations in Queensland, NT, NSW, ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, SA and WA. To find out more, go to www.sailability.org. Follow the links to Sailability Australia, then to your state or territory to the branch/program near you. Each entry should have a contact name and number. If not, go the state association for assistance or call Yachting Australia on 02 8424 7400.

External links

• Yachting Australia
• Sailability Australia
• Sailability World
• Access Class Association
• Access Dinghy Foundation
• Access Sailing Systems
• International Sailing Federation (ISAF)
• International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS)
• Blind Sailing Association
• Special Olympics Australia

History