Displaying items by tag: Irish Disabled Sailing Association

4th January 2011

Passion for the Water Not Hindered by Disability

Physical disability does not have to be a barrier to enjoying marine activities, says one wheelchair user who's recently qualified as a scuba dive instructor.

Gary Allen, who has spina bifida, tells The Irish Times how he refused to let his disability get in the way of his passion for the water.

Allen, who lives in Co Galway, first got involved in sailing four years ago at an event in Kinsale hosted by the Irish Disabled Sailing Association - and was soon at the helm of his own refurbished trimaran specially adapted for disabled users.

His interest in scuba diving was piqued after a talk by Scotsman Fraser Bathgate, who qualified as the world's first wheelchair-using diving instructor. Allen later trained under Bathgate with members of the Galway Dive School.

“The sensation of absolute weightlessness which I experienced on my first scuba-dive is something that I don’t think I will ever forget,” says the Roscommon native.

By 2009 Allen was ready to make his first coastal dive, and in August last year he secured his Professional Association of Diving Instructors (Padi) certificate.

The Irish Times has more on Allen's inspiring story HERE.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2011/0104/1224286696977.html

Physical disability does not have to be a barrier to enjoying marine activities, says one wheelchair user who's recently qualified as a scuba dive instructor.

Gary Allen, who has spina bifida, tells The Irish Times how he refused to let his disability get in the way of his passion for the water.

“The sensation of absolute weightlessness which I experienced on my first scuba-dive is something that I don’t think I will ever forget,” says the Roscommon native.

By 2009 Allen was ready to make his first coastal dive, and in August last year he secured his Professional Association of Diving Instructors (Padi) certificate.

The Irish Times has more on Allen's inspiring story HERE.

Published in Diving

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Competitions

The most significant events for the Half Ton Class has been the annual Half Ton Cup which was sailed under the IOR rules until 1993. More recently this has been replaced with the Half Ton Classics Cup. The venue of the event moved from continent to continent with over-representation on French or British ports. In later years the event is held biennially. Initially, it was proposed to hold events in Ireland, Britain and France by rotation. However, it was the Belgians who took the ball and ran with it. The Class is now managed from Belgium.