A new accessible powerboat offering people with disabilities the opportunity to go powerboating in Portland Harbour has been unveiled.
The new Coulam V17 rigid-hulled powerboat provided to Portland charity Chesil Sailability was made possible by the Wheelyboat Trust, along with local funders Alice Ellen Cooper Dean Charitable Foundation and Dorset Nature Art and Wellbeing Fund as well as national funders the Bruce Wake Charitable Trust and RYA Foundation.
The new vessel named All-Aboard will allow the charity to take disabled groups into the bay for trips around Portland Harbour.
Trustees, volunteers and sailors from the charity together with a representative of the Wheelyboat Trust gathered on the pontoon at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy where the new vessel was moored for the official naming ceremony.
Hugh de Iongh, chair of Chesil Sailability, said: “We are very grateful to the Wheelyboat Trust for making the provision of a Wheelyboat for Chesil Sailability possible. We are very excited to be able to take disability groups out for journeys round Portland Harbour, adding an extra activity for individuals at our weekly sailing sessions, and especially enabling powerboat driver training for people with disabilities, particularly as the layout enables a wheelchair user to drive”.
Chesil Sailability operates from the sailing academy and is an RYA affiliated sailing group, making sailing available to everyone irrespective of physical disabilities, long term health conditions, learning difficulties or mental health difficulties.
It is entirely volunteer run, and has around 50 volunteers, who skipper boats, kit up sailors, hoist sailors into boats, maintain the boats, provide first aid cover, offer instruction and drive the safety boats. Each year Chesil Sailability enables around 120 sailors and carers to experience the waters of Portland Harbour in around 20-25 trips in their boats.
The charity has use of four Hawk and five Hansa sailing boats, the new V17 Wheelyboat and has two Rigid Inflatable Safety boats.
Tom Hepburn, sailor and trustee of Chesil Sailability, has described how this new boat will make a difference.
He said: “It means that we wheelchair-users, and those with limited mobility, can now experience and skipper a powerboat, as well as sailing with Chesil Sailability.
"This is a wonderful addition to the fleet that will now mean that me and many of our other sailors, can work towards obtaining a formal qualification under the RYA Powerability Scheme.
"Our new Wheelyboat, All-Aboard will mean that at Chesil Sailability we can get more people on the water including some carers who may not wish to go out on our sailing boats with the person they bring to our sessions.
"The addition of All-Aboard adds to the essence of what Chesil Sailability, RYA Sailability & Powerability is all about, allowing those who would not otherwise be able to do so, to get on the water and experience the joys and freedom that come with it.
The Coulam V17 Wheelyboat is 5.45 metres long, has a beam of 1.98 metres, and features a 900mm wide bow door ramp to allow the boarding of wheelchairs.
It will be able to operate with up to six people on board in the inshore waters around Portland Harbour. It also has a removable bench seat for the skipper, allowing a wheelchair user to operate the vessel from the steering console.
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