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| June 2010 - Bruce Wake Access Class World Championships - Rutland Water |
When I'm not marooned in bed dreaming about it , I'm out sailing a small single seater boat called an Access Liberty. It does exactly what it says on the tin: this little boat enables me, a quadripleagic to be a sailor; to access the free energy of the wind to get out on the water and experience a whole new world.
I live in North London so it's even more incredible that I'm able go sailing regularly. If you're familiar with the popular BBC soap, "Eastenders", then you'll know the ariel shot of London with the Thames snaking it's way around the Dome at Greenwich peninsular. You also get a clear view of the few remaining docks attached to the river - well, the one on the left of the picture, the only dock on the south side is Greenland Dock - home to Surrey Docks Water Sports Centre and Tideway Sailability .
This is my club, where I learned to sail and whose dedicated volunteers make it all possible. I'm now in my 4th year and with the support of Tideway and the UK Access Class Association , I became the World Champion in the Access Liberty (servo) Class. I get odd looks from people when I tell them I'm a now a World Champion; in anticipation of this reaction, I have "liar" written all over my face. For this reason, perhaps, my local paper (Islington Gazette) wasn't interested in my acheivment; the national media was absent from our World Championships, held at Rutland Water in June - no doubt overshadowed by that other championship that was going on at the time in South Africa.
In 2012, I'm planning on defending my title at the next Access Class World Championships which is being held in Sydney Harbour Yacht Club. While the whole worlds' attention is on the Olympic / Paralympic Games in East London, a stone's throw from Tideway, I'm hoping to be down under sailing and having a good look around afterwards - so I'm going to blog away about my sailing experiences past, present and future. Welcome aboard.
