LORD'S TAVERNERS BRINGS FREEDOM ON THE WATER
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A very special craft sailed on Lake Burley Griffin for the firsttime yesterday – the Taverner,a boat for disabled and disadvantaged sailors. The purpose-built boat isnamed in honour of the organisation that made it possible with funding – Lord’s Taverners ACT, which bought the boat for Sailability. Lord’s Taverners ACT is an organisation that helps disabled and disadvantaged young people take part in sports. For example, it sponsors the Paralympics, blind cricketers, and end-of-match awards not necessarily for the best players, but for those who do something for the spirit in which cricket is played. |
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| BREEZY: Lord’s Taverners ACT chairman David Nicholls and sailor Alan Peake in Taverner. Sailability helps people with any type of disability, the elderly, and the financially and socially disadvantaged to get out on the water sailing. Lord’s Taverners ACT chairman David Nicholls launched the boat at the Canberra Yacht Club on Lake Burley Griffin yesterday. The boat was launched with champagne and a Bradman 20c coin was placed under its mast, a tradition for newly built boats – gold is preferred, but in this case the silver was favoured for its cricket connection. After its launch, the dinghy joined a regatta sailed by disabled people. Nicholls said, ‘‘Our ability to provide Sailability with a craft will give some disabled young people a much more enjoyable life. "People that are disabled generally need a lot of help to get around. Out there on a boat, doing it all for themselves, they get a great sense of independence." Boats in Sailability’s fleet are modified, designed for safety and fitted with harnesses. Nicholls, a former submariner, joked he was the last person who should launch a service craft. "It might turn upside down." Download the article The Lord's Tavereners ackowledges the Canberra Times for providing this article. |