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Where did we come from?
Where did we start?
Having commenced in Britain in the 1980s, Sailability really took off when the idea arrived in Australia in 1991.
A boat builder and designer in Melbourne, Chris Mitchell, designed a boat specifically for a quadriplegic cerebral palsy sufferer, Greg Mott. Greg sailed his boat at Dobroyd, which is at Rodd Point (Sydney), and through him Dobroyd club commenced, closely followed by Belmont and then Manly. We now have 13 Sailability branches in the Sydney Metropolitan area, and over 50 scattered throughout all of Australia.
The Manly Club was started by the Multiple Sclerosis Society in 1996, under the expert leadership of Leslee Cameron and Elizabeth Atkin. Original members were mainly people living with Multiple Sclerosis: Denis Furze, Roger Blake, Phill Thane and others. It was originally known as Sailability North Sydney, but because of access problems at Kirribili, and because of Manly Yacht Club's enthusiasm and generosity, the sailing was carried out at Manly and we became known as Sailability North Sydney/Manly.
Charlie Powell who lived at Manly and had problems with throat cancer joined as the Safety Boat Officer and Maintenance man, and for many years until his death in 2005 Charlie was one of our club stalwarts. It is in honour of his service to the club that our Safety Boat is named "Charlie's Chariot"
In the early days we sailed off the beach next to the ferry wharf at Manly Cove, rigging the boats at Manly Yacht Club, and sailing them across. Building of the pontoon at Manly Yacht Club commenced in 1999 and was completed in 2000. This was completed with help from the NSW Government, the Department of Sport and Recreation, and input from volunteer architects, builders, boat owners, sailors, members of Manly Yacht Club and members of Sailability. As a result of the efforts of this group of people, numbering more than 150 over a period of 12 months, Manly Yacht Club won the NAB Volunteer Award, an amount of $10,000.
When we were Sailability North Sydney, North Sydney Council and North Sydney Rotary each contributed a boat. When we joined Manly Yacht Club and became Sailability North Sydney/Manly, Manly Council and Manly Sunrise Rotary each contributed a boat. Since then by fundraising, image raising, grant submissions and sheer hard work, we have achieved a floating pontoon, a safety craft, four more dinghies, lifejackets, marine radios, and now we have acquired an accessible toilet. Manly Council has been a great help to us in many ways, ensuring that we have parking permits, and this year hopefully we will have access between the upstairs and downstairs of Manly Yacht Club. Manly Sunrise Rotary have supported us over the years, with a member of Rotary constantly on our committee from 1997 until 2006. In 2005 we changed our name officially to Sailability Manly, as a new Sailability group was commencing at Middle Harbour.
A large grant from the Paul Newman Foundation enabled us to buy our current safety boat, and the Master Builders Association of Manly-Warringah raised the funds for our accessible bathroom at their Charity Golf Day.
In 2006/2007 our membership was just over 100. Many of our members are our able-bodied volunteers, and our membership also covers people with special needs. These range from multiple scelerosis sufferers, intellectually disabled people, people with brain injuries, mental illness, accident victims, people with a visual impairment, and stroke victims to people with cerebral palsy, children from special schools, and people from adult activity centres.
You really can't help getting involved when you realise that people with disabilities are having fun, building teamwork, extending their boundaries, improving their general health and fitness, and all because us helpers go down to the Yacht Club and have fun!!!! There is still a lot of work to be done, including continuous maintenance to our existing fleet, a better solution to our parking problems, a more regular training for sailors who wish to compete at inter-club level, access between the upstairs and downstairs of Manly Yacht Club, and some other issues. We also need people who are prepared to put some input into our committee. So, if you feel that you would like to become involved, please contact a member of the current committee or eli@manlysailability.com.au
(you'll find their details on the "Contact Us" page of this site).
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Our story... so far!
