Photo: Supplied.
CONTRIBUTED BY GEOFF GRACE, SAILABILITY BAYSIDE
Sailing for people with disability at Manly harbour reaches a significant milestone in June this year when Sailability Bayside celebrates 20 years of operation.
The concept for disabled sailing as an organised event became a reality during the 1980s in the UK when the Sailability name was established, yet only reached Queensland around the year 2000. A club at the Gold Coast began at this time and was followed shortly after by another at the Sunshine Coast.
The Bayside club operating at Manly, Brisbane, was incorporated in March 2003 and began sailing out of the Multihull Yacht Club premises at Manly in June 2003. The community quickly rallied behind the group, with service clubs and others providing a number of suitably stable Hansa dinghies and support craft to get numbers of people engaged in the activity.
Sailability Bayside is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit organisation and relies on support from community groups, grants from government, business and private individuals in order to maintain this hugely popular activity. Over the years, the activity has become very popular with the disabled community and whilst the pandemic restricted numbers of people attending, it is now regaining that popularity.
The 20-year celebration will take place on Monday, 26 June 2023. Those who have volunteered or supported the club over the years are invited to contact the secretary via email ([email protected]) so they may be involved with the celebration.
