Last month, Foyle Sailability held its inaugural Regatta at Greencastle in the north-east of the Inishowen Peninsula on the north coast of County Donegal on the western shores of Lough Foyle.
Foyle Sailability is actually based at Prehen on the western shore of the River Foyle in Derry in the northwest of Northern Ireland. It is a cross-border voluntary organisation that aims to deliver opportunities for sailing and other water-based activities to people with disabilities from across the Northwest region of Ireland. These sports are made accessible with the help of specialised equipment, such as a hoist at Foyle Port Marina; accessible boats, such as the Hansa 303; access to the water via pontoons at Foyle Port Marina and Greencastle; and support from trained and qualified volunteers.
The weather was kind to the Foyle Sailability sailors and the inaugural event was very successful
There were teams representing Belfast Lough Sailability based in Carrickfergus, Lough Erne Sailability from Lough Erne YC on Lower Lough Erne and the home team.
There were 10 Hanse 303 disabled access dinghies competing, with each dinghy having a disabled helm and a buddy sailor. In addition, there were two Hawk 20s on the water with two or three disabled sailors in each boat. The emphasis is always on safety and fun, although the competitive nature of all the participants always prevails. Foyle Sailability is based now in Prehen upstream of the Craigavon Bridge and there tidal and current constraints would make it extremely difficult to run a day's event at that location so it was moved to Greencastle where the extended wall gave some protection.
Foyle Sailability held its inaugural Regatta at Greencastle in the north-east of the Inishowen Peninsula
Foyle Sailabiity said it's long term aim is to have a floating secure pontoon at Culmore Bay depending on getting funding.
Secretary Ken Curry said "The Maritime Museum couldn't have been more helpful, as were the folks in the Ferryport Bar. We did have one hiccup when we discovered that the hoist had not been serviced as promised by Donegal County Council. In the true spirit of Sailability, we still managed to get our two wheelchair users into a boat and out racing". He continued "Of course, these days can't happen without volunteers. We are lucky that so many wonderful people weighed in on the day, with helpers from Lough Foyle Yacht Club at Culmore, Moville Yacht Club and Lough Swilly Yacht Clubs".
Winners were Belfast Lough Sailability closely followed by Lough Erne Sailability and then Foyle Sailability.
