Earlier this year in June, after being awarded funding from People’s Postcode Trust, Rye Harbour Sailability a charity which provides opportunities to sail for people with disabilities was able to order its second boat, a Drascombe Lugger.
On Wednesday, September 30, the brand new lugger was delivered by the builders Churchouse Boats of Hampshire.
Not being able to sail this year because of the coronavirus, other than to have a trial sail in early September – and with the sailing season coming to an end, we were unsure if we would be able to get even one shakedown sail in before the weather really deteriorated. A shakedown sail tests the performance of the boat.
The forecast on the Friday was shocking with heavy rain and wind forecast. However, a local forecast had steadily predicted a window of good weather midmorning onwards on Saturday, enough time to get a sail in. True to the forecast the clouds parted and with the sun shining and a light breeze from the south west, Sailability volunteers, Daniel Tomkinson, Mike Bone, George Parkin and David Tomkinson set about rigging the lugger. With high water at 1pm the lugger was launched.
The Sailability rescue boat, helmed by coxswain, David Tomkinson and crewed by Caroline Wylson, acted as safety boat for the sail.
Everyone was pleased with the performance of the boat and we look forward to more shakedown sails before the start of the next sailing season.
A massive thank you to People’s Postcode Trust who have supported Rye Harbour Sailability with an outstanding award of £19,617 which has funded the project. The number of sailors has increased steadily since our launch in August 2017 and with only one boat our sailors have had to wait sometimes for over an hour for a sail.
The second boat enables us to take more sailors out on the water and reduce waiting times. For sailors and volunteers alike, the wait has often been frustrating. A huge thank you to everyone who plays the People’s Postcode Lottery from the Rye Harbour Sailability family.
Due to Covid–19 we have not been able to hold any of our sailing or social events
making our usual fund-raising activities impossible, so we have had to look at other
ways to raise funds.
We decided that a Christmas card would be one of the ways. We are incredibly grateful to John Pulford who designed the card especially for Rye Harbour Sailability. We also have charity pots at various venues in and around Rye. We rely on the generosity of our local community who have been so wonderful in their support of the charity.
If you would like to purchase some unique Christmas cards, obtain a charity pot, or make a donation please contact David and Jen Tomkinson via email at dejltomkinson@btinternet.com. The cards can also be purchased from Adams of Rye Limited who printed the cards. All proceeds are in aid of Rye Harbour Sailability.
Image Credits: Sailability .