For more than a decade, the Monte Real Yacht Club in Baiona, Spain, has been running an Adapted Sailing School that offers free lessons and custom boats to people with physical, mental, sensory and intellectual disabilities. The boats, like the GOS16 with its weighted keel, are built to stay steady, so the sailor can focus on the wind and the water. One graduate, 51-year-old César Maquieira, lives with a degenerative muscle disease. He says the sense of freedom when you leave the wheelchair behind on the boat is incredible.
The idea is catching on across the globe. In the UK, the Disabled Sailors Association has helped more than 25,000 people sail since 1993. Sailability South Africa builds accessible SV14 boats and pushes to get sailing back into the Paralympics. And a 2018 study found that adapted sailing wasn’t just fun, it was life-affirming and enabling, boosting confidence, rehabilitation and social connection along the way.
There’s still work to do. Supporters point out that sailing is physically accessible now but not always financially accessible, since boats, gear and lessons add up. Still, every graduate who leaves the dock behind is proof of what inclusion can look like when somebody builds a boat wide enough for everyone. Have you ever tried sailing, or is it on your bucket list? Tell us in the comments.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
