2021 NEWS

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December

And what a year it was. Huge thanks to our dedicated instructors, volunteers and our donors who all make what we do happen. It really is so appreciated by so many. Here is what happened in the final month of 2021.............

Our longest running programme Saturday Sailing ended the year on 18th December with a Christmas sail, lunch and certificates given for their progress during the year. We will restart on 8th January 2022 whilst other programmes continued up until the end of the year.

Association of Women with Disabilities and 1st Step Association

Both organisations continued their sailing courses sponsored by the American Women's Association. Thank you AWA!

The ladies were under the guidance of professional coaches and a group of enthusiastic volunteers plus the cool autumn weather, with both wind and sun , produced a lot of enjoyment riding the wind and the waves! The ladies and staff from the AWD & 1st Step Association expressed their sincere thanks to all at Sailability and AWA! Both groups where accompanied by volunteers from our Senior Sailing Courses sponsored by the Hong Kong Club Foundation - thank you.

Sailability at TEDx

Sailability HK attended the recent TEDx Tin Hau Women event and we also took a Hansa 303 dinghy to grab people’s attention to come and see what we do!

As you can see it was a challenge to manouevre the dinghy from Hebe Haven into the Xiqu Centre in Tsim Sha Shui. But Sailability HK CEO Kay Rawbone said “the volunteers did an amazing job both with the cleaning of the boat and the refurbishment of the simulator to the transportation. They were also great ambassadors of what we do as they mingled and chatted to attendees at the event”

This TEDx was about female empowerment, and engaging with healthy and sustainable living so Sailability was well placed to make a positive impact.

By taking part Sailability wanted to reach out to new partners and there was “lots of interest“ said Kay.

The first ever Mike Rawbone Challenge Cup

The series concluded on Sunday 12th December with the final races and a prize giving event. Well done to FOO Yuen Wai for finishing first in the 2.4mR class and Mark Poon in the Hansa 303 class. Amazing trophies designed by Volunteer Marie - thank you!

It was the culmination of three series comprising 25 individual races staged over months. The sailors were tested in a full range of sea and weather conditions from the sweltering heat of summer to the cool of early December.

The Cup is a milestone for the training of physically disabled sailors in Hong Kong. The range of winners tells us that it is very competitive group and the event gave everyone the chance to improve their skills and fitness.

Congratulations to the winners and all who participated in the races. Special thanks to Catherine Smith, Virgile Bertrand, Fred Vaudaine and other volunteers who assisted with the training and race marshalling during the races. It was an incredible series dedicated to late Boss - Mike. Thank you everyone for making it happen. We are looking forward to the next series in 2022!

Social Inclusion Through Sports and Recreation hosted by TREATS

Kay Rawbone was part of a panel discussion and said what she most wanted was for “people with disabilities to be accepted like anyone else and have the opportunity to show their abilities.” She said it was inspiring “to see people with disabilities and volunteers come to Sailability initially for leisure sailing and then decide they would like to go on and train for competitive sailing.” It was often an emotional moment “to take parents out onto the water so they could see their children sailing at close hand.”

The conference was organised by Treats and included the results of a university study that showed taking part in inclusive sport develops a sense of inclusion among both participants and volunteers. For a fuller report about the conference, in Chinese, visit the Treats Facebook page.

Southside Regatta Results - 4th & 5th December

After 2 days of sailing to and from the venue and 2 days of racing with world ranking points at stake the results are in. In the 2.4mR class:

1st Foo Yuen Wai

2nd Puk Chi Yeung

3rd Leung Wun Wai

Well done everyone who took part we are proud of you all! Special thanks to ABC for the support shown to our sailors during the event.

24hr Charity Dinghy Race Cheque Presentation

3rd December saw an evening award ceremony for this year’s 24 Hour Charity Race organised by Hebe Haven Yacht Club. This year the race raised an amazing HK$ 1 million for 5 local charities. Sailability Hong Kong received HK$200,000 and a huge thank you once again to HHYC for their support. HK$100,000 of this amount was raised by our amazing Senior Sailing Volunteers who give so much to what we do. They, for the first time, entered their first race at this prestigious event with two boats and were also invaluable as the Stall Team looking after the sign on and off the water and everything else over the weekend. Thank you so much!!!!

We are very proud to have had so many Sailability boats in the event - 14 and the appearance of one of our renovated Enterprises!!! Great work Sailability!!!

The Para Warrior 1 team from Sailability, crewed by some of our amazing Para Sailors won the prize for the fastest average lap time of the event. An amazing feat. The same team also finished first on time and came second in the event overall which takes account of sailing times plus funds raised.

After receiving the cheque Kay Rawbone, CEO and Co Founder thanked everyone involved for a “super super effort” on behalf of Sailability, and HHYC for making the race such a wonderful event!

Regular programs continue with Saturday Sailing, Para Sailing Training, Scallywag Foundation Programs and other organisations and schools joining each month.

November - Highlights

Rabi Yim, Chairlady of the Direction Association for the Handicapped visited Sailability on Sunday. Her team had a fruitful morning filming for a video on accessibility in sailing. The Association is a group of people with severe physical impairment that supports members to live with happiness and confidence in the community. Rabi has used a wheelchair since a traffic accident in 1998. We hope to hear more from them again soon!

TREATS sailing with Sailability Hong Kong Unleashing possibilities!

Treats Inclusive racing 2021 - 14 Hansa 303 boats took part in races today with dry and sunny conditions, and a swift NE to SE wind. Taking part were 6 boats from TWGH TTT school, plus 6 more boats from open recruitment by Treats, and 2 invited teams (one from our visual impaired young sailor Henry and his father and one from our Lady Warriors - Fiona and Jenny). We managed to start four races under Race officer Shirley Leung. It was a strong field for the race. Well done everyone who took part.

Scallywag Foundation Programme - one highlight from this popular programme

On 6 November, Christian Action arranged a group of eight children who are under their after-school care service to join our one-day taster supported by the Scallywag Foundation Programme. They were coached by our club coach Rachel Pang, who is also a life saver and diving instructor! Thank you to Sun Hung Kai for providing this programme for our sailors.

Senior Sailing programme sponsored by The Hong Kong Club Foundation

7 senior citizens from Shatin district joined a half day taster with the support of our Senior Sailor Volunteers from our Core Teams 1 and 2. The newcomers enjoyed the wonderful warm and sunny morning with a gentle breeze from the north east to east ideal for first time sailors . All of them practiced an at-sea transfer and enjoyed a short speedy ride on our S9 powered safety boat. We hope they will return for a longer programme in future! They enjoyed their lunch too!!

Regular programs continue with Para Sailing Training, Scallywag Foundation Programs and other organisations and schools joining each month.

October Highlights

24hr Charity Dinghy Race

One of the great stories of the HHYC hour Charity Race was the appearance of one of Sailability’s restored Enterprises!

It was wonderful to see the boat taking part in the race for a few hours. Our thanks to HHYC for these photos and to Ryan, Tommy, Edward, and Mike Ng who sailed her on Saturday 30th October.

The 24 Hour Charity Race started at 2pm on Saturday 30th October with the finish at 2pm on Sunday 31st October. This year Sailability had 14 boats participating in the event. Sailors take turns to sail during the 24 hours, usually doing a 2 hour shift. One of the ways to do well in the event is to make quick crew changes.

The charities benefitting are:

- Children’s Cancer Fund

- Sailability HK

- Treats

- Ideal

- Sai Kung District Community Centre

During the weekend we actively supported the World Sailing 'Back the Bid LA 2028' Campaign as you can see. The global campaign to get sailing back into the Paralympics from 2028 has inspired Hong Kong artist Herbert Spedding to create this poster. If you have seen his work previously you’ll recognize the style and his lovely use of colours. A delightful contribution!

Hong Kong para sailors back the bid! Ourr Sailability Para sailors are openly supporting the campaign by World Sailing to get sailing into the LA Paralympics 2028. There has been a global ground swell of support to get sailing reinstated after it was dropped for the 2020 and 2024 Paralympics.

David Graham, CEO of World Sailing said “Over the past 5 years the number of countries with Para sailors participating in international competition has increased by 30%.” There is an emphasis on inclusion and diversity including getting more women Para sailors. “We are taking nothing for granted” said Graham.

World Sailing’s campaign to get sailing back into the Paralympic Games is generating headlines across the world!

Sailing was part of the 2016 Games in Rio but was dropped for Tokyo 2020 and has not been included in the 2024 event.

The aim is to get it back into the Paralympics for Los Angeles 2028.

On Friday 22nd October Kay Rawbone was interviewed on RTHK Radio 3 about the 24 hour Charity Race hosted by Hebe Haven Yacht Club on 30 - 31 October.

During the interview Kay was very upbeat saying although the Charity race had been cancelled last year now we see “the positive side of Covid that it’s got people out into the fresh air. Rather than going round a shopping mall people are choosing to go sailing or kayaking or walking “. This year Sailability HK has a record 14 boats taking part in the 24 Hour Race. The race village opens at 12 noon on Saturday; the race starts at 2pm until 2pm Sunday. There will be stalls, food, music , as well as sailing! To listen to Kay’s interview click on the link below. The part with Kay starts at 40 mins 30 seconds. https://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio3/programme/morning_brew

Hong Kong Society for the Blind

Our long term partners launched a wonderful new song during the month at a concert held in TST. The words of the song “We can overcome“ are full of meaning especially as we all battle through the challenges of Covid. In fact the lyricist composed the words while she was waiting for her Covid jab! The video for was partly filmed at Hebe Haven Yacht Club and onboard the club boat Hebe One . And if you look carefully you’ll see Kay clapping along in the chorus line. Great song great video - enjoy! We can overcome video: https://youtu.be/MGDoO8Jhhwo

A sensory experience

On Wednesday a group called “Blind Darkness Fighters” who arrange sport for the visually impaired experienced their first day of sailing. They have participated in Dragon Boats training but sailing was something new to them all. It was a milestone for visually impaired sailing in HK and they will come back again in 2022 to learn more.

This was quickly followed by a Scallywag Foundation Taster day for a group, arranged by parents of students from Ebenezer School. To help prepare the new sailors,our Sailability instructors arranged a sensory experience to help them acclimatise to being on the water. The group all sat on the edge of the pontoon to feel the rise and fall of the water, and they dipped their feet into the sea.

Regular programs continue withSaturday Sailing, Para Sailing Training, Scallywag Foundation Programs and other organisations and schools joining each month.

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September

A snapshot of the varied programs we have had during the month:

Hong Kong Society for the Blind

hired HHYC's Hebe One to begin the filming of their Cheers Band's new music video; 'We Can Overcome' which will be launched in October. The video shows how with access to the water they have been able to overcome the effects of the pandemic on their lives. So beautiful and a wonderful tribute to the changes we make to people's lives.

COA Big Boat Day with Sailability

The Cruiser Owners Association organised a Big Boat sailing day on 4th September to introduce the COA to our sailors. They had 5 boats join the day out; Freefire, Saphira, Blu, Amphrititi and Karina. What a day it was with experiences beyond the wildest dreams of our sailors. The Sailability Sailors who joined the day were aged from 8yrs to 70+, with a range of abilities, and all were beneficiaries of the huge range of programs we run. These programs being the mainstay of what we do. Thank you to the COA, the boat owners and crews involved for this introduction to something new!

Blacklaw's Race Series

for Para Team Sailors in Hansa 303s and 2.4mR's. Races 1 and 2 took place during the month with a new Race Management Team and some new buoys!! Sailors are improving and that's what this is all about, as we work together to give our Para Team sailors some competition and training as the pandemic restrictions continue to affect the lack of local, regional and internation competition.

Many thanks to Catherine, Lucy, Fred, Tomas, CK, Alan, Nicole + many more who are supporting this race series.

BART'S BASH 2021

was held with HHYC and once again it was a hot and windless day. This however, did not dampen the enthusiasm of our sailors as we joined a fleet of 60+. This is an annual fundraising event which raised in excess of HK$22,000 for Sailability. A huge thank you once again to all who donated on the day. It's another HHYC inclusive race which we are always proud of being part of.

Sports Association for the Blind Darkness Fighters

a new group to join a sailing taster day on 29th September. Volunteers from the the Pak Sha Wan Scout Troop joined us as volunteers as we introduced 12 new sailors to our program. None of the sailors had sailed before and we could not have had a better day with blue skies and wind. We are looking forward to them joining us on a monthly basis some time soon.

Other programs during the month:

Sun Hung Kai - Scallywag Foundation

Jockey Club Sarah Roe School

Hong Kong Club Foundation - Senior Sailing

Para Team Training

Saturday Sailing - our longest program continues to gain more interest with new sailors joining !!

Race Management Team & one of our new Buoys!

ASD11 sponsored by Sun Hung Kai's Scallyway Foundation graduate on 26th September - well done!

During the hot summer months our programs continued even with the rain. Here are some of the highlights:

Scallywag Program continues and during July our second group of sailors from our ethnic minority community graduated. A group of young ladies, which boosts our female participation in the sport. At times during their training there was so much rain and they still carried on smiling and enjoying the opportunity. Looking forward to them coming back for their HKSF Level 1&2 and to volunteer with other groups. Well done to all.

HKSF Level 1 at Sailability. Whilst HHYC took a weekend break during the summer we decided to offer another challenge to some of our ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) sailors who had graduated from our Scallywag Foundation Program. We are delighted to say that 12 sailors have now completed their HKSF Level 1. A huge thank you to Instructors Jesse and Candy who facilitated these sessions. Another big WELL DONE to all!!!

Pak Sha Wan Scouts with Sailability Hong Kong. For many years Scout Leaders from this troop have joined us whenever we needed volunteers. On 31st July it was our turn to support them. We loaned them 3 of our Hansa 303s to support 6 of their Scout Leaders to compete in a '100 Age Race'. Our boats competed in 4 races out to Shelter Island and back to Pak Sha Wan with Bahias and Picos - 13 boats in all. The special thing about this race was that the age of the sailors in the boats had to total 100 years. Sailors ages in our boats, that's six sailors, totalled 366 years! One of our boats had two sailors whose ages totalled 130 years - think that broke their age record!! Great day out with the Scouts and a great idea for a race.

SLIX PROGRAMS

Family Fun Taster Day

This was our first Family Fun Day for member of SLIX (a society for limb and body deformity) whose Chairperson is one of our volunteers - Ah Po. Even though the weather was not good on the day there were many smiling faces. Big thanks from the group to Candy, Ryan and other volunteers. Also special thanks to DI Paul for providing professional advice to them all.

Comment from the group 'Thank you all for participating in the small sailing event. Participants from 7 years old to 40+years old, big and small learning together was super fun'.

SLIX 2 Day Training Program - despite the mixed weather another group from the Slix Society sailed with us and have shared their photos and feelings on their Facebook page in Chinese.

In the post the sailors say it’s wonderful that tall and short people can learn and have fun together and they thank Candy, Ryan, Paul, and Kay for making it possible. We love having this group join us with Ah Po and Ting having sailed with us in the HHYC Regatta and the FOS Regatta. We look forward to many more sailings with them.

Mindset - 25th July & 22nd August

After a break of almost 2 years, Jardines Mindset beneficiaries came back to enjoy 2 days of sailing with us. Jardines volunteers were paired up with friends from MINDSET Place, a residential home for people recovering from mental illness, to enjoy the fun of sailing with Sailability. On the 22nd August we were able to let some of the beneficiaries try out a J80 with Jesse and Paul Wu whilst others sailed in our Hansa 303s. Having learned some basic skills in the morning sessions everyone was able to control the boats together successfully!

Mike's Enterprise

Enterprise World Champion and Olympian yachtsman Andy Service joined Sailability in August to help restore the second of the three Enterprise boats. Andy and the Sailability team identified what needed doing and what parts are still needed.

24 hours later Andy confirmed that he had already found a centre board, rudder, and sails and told Sailability CEO Kay Rawbone that he really enjoyed himself and the keenness of the volunteers to finish the project was “overwhelming”.

When restored, Sailability plans to name this Enterprise in honour of Mike Rawbone.

Special thanks to Andy and also to Dragon Marine for the restoration work on the hull. Great Sailability Blue colour in honour of the Boss!!

There’s more work to be done, but well done so far everyone!

JULY & AUGUST - our hottest months

JUNE is here and the heat is on!!

36 programs undertaken which included 14 Scallywag Foundation sessions for sailors with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other challenges, children from the HK Red Cross Margaret Trench School, Group 2 from Morning Hope School and a very keen group of young ladies from our Ethnic Community who are really enjoyed this newly found sport of sailing. As well as............

OUR SENIOR SAILOR PROGRAM funded by the Hong Kong Club Foundation continues to attract much interest as we work towards training new senior sailors to become volunteers. Volunteers are being trained to support new sailors from grass root areas of our community. I'm sure there are many seniors in our our grass roots community who would love this opportunity and we can make it happen! Well done to Instructors Candy & Jess who are working with this project.

SATURDAY SAILING PROGRAM primarily for sailors with Learning Disability/SEN/ASD is the highlight of the week for many as they travel from as far away as Discovery Bay for a day's sailing at HHYC. Alexandra and Greig were part of the Fab4 (Alexandra, Sean, Joshua & Greig) way back in 2009 and still sail every week.

SINCERE CONDOLENCES go to the family of Sean Browne who sadly passed away unexpectedly on 11th June 2021 at home in the UK. Sean along with Greig, Alexandra and Joshua were our Fab4 who were instrumental in the formation of Sailability Hong Kong. Sean was also a very keen football player, being Captain of the Crusaders Football Team at HKFC when living in HK, and also a mascot to many of their RFU & Football teams. He will be sadly missed by us all at Sailability and many more in Hong Kong and Manchester, UK, where the family made their home after leaving Hong Kong a few years ago.

PARA TEAM AND TIER 2 PARA TEAM TRAINING takes place during the week and on Sundays as we work towards more local, regional and international racing as well as reinstatement into the Paralympics. To make things more interesting and challenging for our sailors and to expand our Race Training Progam, Catherine Smith - Director of Sailability Hong Kong together with Virgile Bertrand - Sailability Volunteer and Chairperson of the 2.4mR Association, came up with the brilliant idea of running Sunday Practice Race Training for our 2.4mR & Hansa 303 Para Team Sailors. This Mike Rawbone Challenge Cup series consists of 9 days of racing in 3 series from June to the end of the year. Each series is dedicated to people who have supported Sailability over the years culminating in the Series Winner being awarded the Mike Rawbone Challenge Cup. The 3 Race Series are named as follows:

Race 1 Series June - Kaplan (in honour of Neil Kaplan and support from the Arbitrators Ball)

Race 2 Series - Blacklaws (a great volunteer and friend to us all)

Race 3 Series - Sean Browne (in memory of Sean, one of the Fab4 Sailability Sailors back in 2009)

A huge thank you to our sailors and the volunteers who made this happen.

A SPECIAL DAY FOR THE PARA SAILORS!

Our para sailors spent a day’s inclusive sailing on a very stylish Solaris 47 yacht named Saphira. The Solaris design has a flat transom making it possible to accommodate wheelchairs and it’s even possible to sail the boat while seated in a wheelchair. The para team who normally sail 2.4mR’s have sailed on larger yachts previously but this was the biggest yacht for them as a team.

Everyone at Sailability is hugely appreciative for this opportunity - THANK YOU to Ar Tai, Cynthia and Enrico for making this day possible.

HKSF FESTIVAL OF SPORT - 26/27 JUNE 2021 AT HHYC

.....and the resilience of our sailors shone through. The awful weather conditions over the 2 days disrupted the racing with no racing and no winner being declared. Even so sailors from Sailability felt they had learned much from taking part. A couple of comments from sailors who joined the racing:

Cyan - volunteer buddy sailor 'I gained a lot from this experience as a volunteer, from seeing how particpants persevered during the advers weather conditions to learning more about water sports and weather patterns. Although a race winner was not declared, I'm looking forward to the next race'.

Oi Po Chung - Sailability Sailor and Cyan's buddy 'There are different learning experiences in the challenges brought about by weather - strong gusts, no wind, heavy rain and changing wind direction. Although there was no wind and heavy rain this time, I actually prefer it to the scorching hot sun. On the water the sailors were relaxed. Our opponents smiled at us and said hello. We said hi back. Despite the rain, people were all happy and mellow. I'm looking forward to future obstacles I may face'.

CARING COMPANY AWARD

Sailability HK has been awarded not one but TWO “Caring Company” awards!!

The first award is for Sailability Hong Kong helping “To build a cohesive society… inspiring corporate social responsibility through caring for the community, employees and the environment.” Well done everyone who has contributed to this in any capacity – this award is yours!

Secondly a “Caring Ambassador” Award has been given to our Co-Founder and CEO Kay Rawbone “in recognition of the contribution to corporate community involvement programs”.

Sailability and Kay were nominated for these awards by Hong Kong Society for the Blind who are one of our valued partners and we thank them for their thoughtfulness and generosity in making these nominations.

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Sean in a Bahia on his first day at HHYC and as part of our FAB4 with Rex and Rob back in 2009 which saw the start of our Saturday Sailing Program

MAY......and we thought March and April were busy!!

477 people joined Sailability this month - an unbelieveable number!

281 sailors with disability

110 new sailors

198 women

279 men

196 volunteers in various roles

75 joining our Sun Hung Kai Scallywag Foundation Program

Why were we so busy?

WORLD SAILING'S STEERING THE COURSE - WOMEN'S SAILING FESTIVAL 21 - 30 MAY 2021...

a huge thank you to our Sailability Event Sponsors - Mercedez-Benz & HFW - who made this happen and provided free sailing to all our sailors, old and new!! Thank you also to a HHYC member for providing lunch for our volunteers.

This was a brilliant idea received from World Sailing (WS). One of their strategic initiatives to introduce more women and girls into sailing whatever that may be, whilst having fun: sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding, volunteering, race management etc. Sailability & HHYC couldn't resist the challenge and together with a fantastic joint Working Committee we were co-hosted the event - the first of its kind in Hong Kong.

The Women’s Sailing Festival got underway with an opening ceremony at Hebe Haven Yacht Club on the morning of 21st May. Attended by many members of the Sai Kung Community, HHYC Commodore & their General Committee, event sponsors, working committee members, guest speakers and sailors - it was a very fitting start to what was to be an amazing 10 days.

Special thanks to World Sailing's Rob Holden and Massimo Dighe for their kind words via video at the event opening and from Sailability to RTHK, SCMP and other media channels for their coverage.

Andreas Buchental, President and CEO Mercedes-Benz HK who sponsored our involvement, expressed his support for the work of Sailability in the community. He described the Women’s Sailing Festival as a “great initiative, on the one hand local on the other worldwide “. And when Sian Knight a Lawyer with Holman, Fenwick, Willen who also sponsored Sailability, said they were committed to getting para sailing back into the Paralympic Games, the audience responded with instantaneous applause!

Numbers of sailors old and new, together with volunteers and guests over the 10 days was 308 which included:

176 women

132 men

65 new sailors experiencing sailing for the first time - 63 women + 2 men

78 volunteers in various roles - 42 women + 36 men

AMAZING RESULT and well done to our Sailability Family and RHKYC for your involvement in the event - thank you.

HHYC OPEN REGATTA 22 & 23 MAY

The Hebe Haven Yacht Club Open Regatta 2021 held over the weekend of 22/23 May and

during the World Sailing's Steering the Course - Women's Sailing Festival, provided ranking

regattas for our 2.4mR and Hansa 303 fleets. Results from these races will be

forwarded to World Sailing as we successfully manage our sailing and rankings during

COVID times.

This year saw the largest Sailability fleet – 26 of our boats; 2.4mR x 9, Hansa Liberty x 3 and

Hansa 303 x 14 sailed by a spectrum of sailors. Those competing are Sailability HK’s Para Sailing

Team, Tier 2 Para Sailors, new sailors with amputations, limb deformities, neurological disorders

and volunteers. We also saw SEN sailors from our regular Saturday Sailing Sessions paired

with competent volunteer sailors from different walks of life, regular volunteers, a female

instructor and sailors representing 4 different schools/organisations who attend regular

sailing with us. The schools’ representatives included teachers, social workers and volunteers

paired with SEN students.

This amazing spectrum of our sailors really demonstrates the inclusiveness of what we do

and its versatility as a competitive sport.

Kay Rawbone CEO of Sailability HK said, “A huge thank you to everyone involved over the

weekend for what turned out to be an amazing event! Everyone supported everyone, sailors

and volunteers alike. What a great family we are.”

The link below takes you to the results page. Special mention to Sailability sailors Leo Purdie & Alexandra Jones who came 1st & 2nd in the Hansa 303 doubles, TANG Chi Shing, 1st in the Hansa 303 singles, FOO Yuen Wai second in the 2.4mR class, and to Peter Danielsson who won in the Liberty class! Check out the results on the following link:

https://theclubspot.com/regatta/fJHaMBI9aY/results

Sailability sponsors enjoyed a Moments Experience courtesy of Systeke Kinman - one of the HHYC event sponsors. Thank you so much for this - everyone had a great afternoon on this beautiful Catamaran. Sailability Volunteers + Sian from HFW and her family, joined the Sail Away Day on Day 10 of the Festival. What great way to end an awesome 10 days.

More special thanks to HHYC for providing the venue for the event and to the ladies in the Working Committee for the dedication and hard work in bringing it all together. We are very happy to have been part of this and look forward to 2022!!!

AND WHAT ELSE WAS HAPPENING DURING THE MONTH?

11 Sun Hung Kai Scallywag Foundation programs for the following groups:

ASD 07,08,09 - 3 groups of sailors with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Hong Kong Red Cross Margaret Trench School

Hong Kong Society for the Blind

Hand in Hand - a group formed by parents with children with upper limb deformity

Morning Hope School - Group 2 with sailors from Group 1 now acting as mentors -

what a difference sailing has made

A group of young Ethnic Community ladies joining their 2nd session

+ CONTINUATION OF OUR REGULAR PROGRAMS

Saturday Sailing

Para Sailing Team Training

Tier 2 Para Team Training

Hong Kong Club Foundation volunteer training for our Senior Sailing program

Mega thanks to all at Sailability who helped to make this happen - without you we couldn't do what we do.

Day 9 thank you for supporting_edited.jp

Presentation to winner of ladies 2.4mR -

APRIL

Another amazing month for Sailability HK and I would like to start this month's round up by sharing with you all a Testimonial from Morning Hope School who joined our SHK Scallywag Foundation Program on 25th March 2021.

'Children from Morning Hope School came along to Sailability with their Social Worker and Teacher. From a completely blank sheet, not having done much physical work, the children developed into confident able sailors after 6 days training. By the end of the course they were able to independently rig the Hansa 303 boats and wash, clean and pack them away after the sessions without too much guidance.

From an initial familiarisation ride on a safety boat, the children managed to sail all the way out to near Shelter Island, past HKUST and back on their final day. Congratulations everybody! #SAILABILITY - WE AREN'T MANY, WE ARE ONE' Ming

This month's round up:

A total of 396 took to the water during April which included sailors old and new (in terms

of age and experience) together with volunteers as support when needed:

Sailors: 293 (239 with disability)

Volunteer sailors: 103

New sailors: 61 (40 with disability)

Total number of sessions held during the month - 41. Really amazing and huge thanks to our instructors, volunteers, donors and of course our sailors who made

all this happen.

OUR SUN HUNG KAI SCALLYWAG FOUNDATION PROGRAM DELIVERED:

16 sessions during April with 107 sailors and included......

A WATER SPORTS WEEK - we held our first ever water sports week for

Special Educational Needs Youth in HK from 30 March until 10 April.

Groups of teenagers from different schools experienced an exciting time with

Sailability HK. The young people were from families with disabled parents - CARA,

teenagers with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) studying in mainstream or

special schools. Many sailing for the first time while others were graduated

sailors from our Scallywag Foundation sailing program. More training will be

run in the coming school holidays, so watch out for the latest updates!

On 2 April we embraced World Autism Awareness Day which aims to

raise awareness about people with autistic spectrum disorders including

autism and Asperger's syndrome throughout the world. At Sailability HK

our instructors took a mixed group of boys and girls with special needs

from HK schools sailing. It was also the first of 5 days training for group

ASD08, once again funded by the SHK Scallywag Foundation programme.

+ other Scallywag Foundation training programs continued as sailors joined

regular training to complete their courses:

ASD 07

Tsui Tsing Tong School

Morning Hope School

Kai Oi School

THE HONG CLUB FOUNDATION'S SENIOR SAILING

PROGRAM IS LAUNCHED

10 'Golden Age' sailors, some with previous sailing experience

joined this new volunteer training program with instructors Jesse & Candy.

The purpose of this training is to train and support the volunteers to

become proficient in rigging and sailing our Hansa 303s whilst supporting

lesser able 'Golden Agers' within our community as the 'Senior Sailing program'

progresses. What a great way to spend your spare time after retirement

- helping others whilst learning a new skill!

HONG KONG RED CROSS MARGARET TRENCH SCHOOL

12 teachers joined a 2 day training program to prepare them to

become proficient buddy sailors to the first group of their

students joining a taster day later in the month. Students

from this school have higher support needs and this gives

us the opportunity to use one of our specially designed

seats to offer more support to the sailor, when in the

boat and whilst sailing. Parents also joined in the fun

and went out on one of our safety boats to see their

children sailing.

SLIX & HK AMPUTEE ASSOCATION a group of men and women from the HK

Amputees Association and Slix Society (for people with limb and/or body

deformity) took to the water. They had a wonderful time and fortunately they

got back to Hebe Haven before the weather turned grey and wet! Well done to our

instructors and helpers - Paul, Ryan, Daoud, Candy, June, Lotus, and Puk

(International Para Sailing Team Member). Many have expressed an interest to

return to train for the HHYC Open Regatta in May.

1st STEP ASSOCIATION members, staff and volunteers, which included

15 new sailors age 50-70, left their wheelchairs behind as they sailed in our

Hansa 303s and also enjoyed rides on our ribs. Also accompanying the group

was a media team which included Mark Poon one of our Tier 2 sailors.

What a great day they all had with many wanting a return visit.

Our hoist proved to be invaluable on that day!

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM for experienced sailors with instructor Candy.

Many experienced sailors joined this program to familiarise themselves with our

Hansa 303 fleet in preparation to not only to become regular volunteers but to

also support and assist with a very busy May with the World Sailing's Steering

the Course Women's Festival and the HHYC Open Dinghy Regatta in which

we played a very an important part.

...........all this and our regular weekly training and fun programs also continued:

SATURDAY SAILING

PARA SAILORS TWICE WEEKLY SAILING PROGRAM

TIER 2 PARA SAILING TRAINING

I would like to extend a huge thanks to all involved; our donors, instructors, safety boat drivers, AI's, volunteers and of course our sailors some of whom undergo twice weekly training to represent HK in the sport of sailing.

MARCH

Mad March - and that's what is was for us this year - 306 of our

sailors and volunteers sailing during the month. Absolutely amazing

and credit and many thanks go to our sailors, instructors, volunteers

and our sponsors for making this happen.

March's sailing included:

PARA SAILORS WEEKLY TRAIING - as well as their regular bi-weekly

training program at HHYC, 6 x 2.4mRs sailed to Middle Island for the

race over the weekend of 13th & 14th March, which takes around

6 hours and it not easy, only to find the weekend's racing had been

cancelled due to another COVID cluster being found in Sai Ying Pun.

They then had to sail back! Thanks go to our sailors, Coach Ed,

Volunteers Fred, Jenny, Jeannette and Lydia for their involvement,

support and encouragement as always.

SATURDAY SAILING GROUP - happy to be back to some sort of

'normal' and as always they have enjoyed meeting new volunteers

joining us and new instructors to our regular team. Welcome to

Instructors Jack, Jesse and Andy and thank you for the interest in

what we do at Sailability.

GOLDEN AGE VOLUNTEER TRAINING to assist with our SEN

Schools Programs - 12 joined this program learning how to become

a supportive volunteer - learning the tricks of the trade!! Thank you

to Sunny for his help with this. Here they are having an introduction

to our boats.

The Hong Kong Club Foundation has also donated funds for

a Senior Sailing Program commencing April 2021- if you are

interested in joining as a volunteer or sailor please contact us

HONG KONG SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND returned with a new

group of sailors who enjoyed their first sailing experience and

can't wait to come back again on 2nd May 2021.

TIER 2 SAIL TRAINING GROUP for sailors with a physical

disability is growing with many more joining these sessions

hoping one day to join our Para Sailing Team. Keep up the hard

work - it will be worth it in the end.

MARGARET TRENCH RED CROSS SCHOOL teachers etc

participated in their first sailing session following a ZOOM

presentation to staff, students and Parents. Training is

being provided to them so that they can feel confident

on the water when their students come to sail with us

in May. They like everyone else enjoyed their introduction

to sailing and are looking forward to more!

SCALLYWAG FOUNDATION PROGRAM (sponsored by

Sun Hung Kai) - we had a mammoth month with 12

sessions being undertaken for 76 sailors sailing. Those

joining this program for the under - represented in

Hong Kong were from: Tsui Ting Tong, Morning Hope

and Kai Oi Schools, 3 Groups of students on the Autism

Spectrum and a group of girls/young ladies from our

Ethnic Community. All groups thoroughly enjoyed

their introduction to sailing and the courses being

provided by Sun Hung Kai. Huge thanks from us all

to Sun Hung Kai for making this happen.

SAILING IS BACK ON - 6TH FEBRUARY!!!

.....and everyone is so happy - our sailors, instructors, volunteers

alike and at Sailability Hong Kong are taking responsible precautions

in line with Government recommendations. We had a great month

albeit restrictions were in place with 122 of our sailors and

volunteers on the water sailing!

All our Instructors, volunteers, in fact anyone assisting within

our programs will need to provide a negative COVID-19 negative

test every 14 days. By complying with this all our programs can

restart.

We started with volunteers on 6th & 13th February, working in

2's at HHYC, as we set about checking our boats to ensure they

are all in working order. We have also fitted new reefing lines to

some of the older boats which will make many sailors happy.

A few of our regular sailors took to the water over the weekend

of 6/7th and 15th February. We were also able to finish the last

day of an HKSF level 1&2 on 15th February for staff and volunteers

of one of our partnering NGOs, who sail with us on a regular basis

, + a couple of our own volunteers. Great news - they have all passed!!!!!

GOLDEN AGE VOLUNTEER TRAINING FOR SCHOOLS RESTARTS

Volunteering training commences on 22nd February for Golden Age

Sailors who are looking to be volunteers for our schools' programs.

This will be of great benefit to both groups as they enjoy the sessions together. If this is of interest to you please let us know and maybe

you could join us.

OUR ENTERPRISE RENOVATIONS CONTINUE.........

During the shutdown we have found other things to do and getting our

2nd Enterprise ready to sail was at the top of the list. Initial work was undertaken by volunteers Mark & Ernest and now she has been handed

over the Dragon Marine to add their finishing touches.

This second Enterprise will be called 'Mike's Enterprise' in memory of

one of our founders - Mike. It will be easily recognised when sailing as

it will have the name on its sails together with a Sailability logo. Mike

and Kay owned 3 Enterprises during their sailing days in the UK - all

wooden and it was Mike's wish to have a class for use by both our sailors

and volunteers. Now his wishes are coming to fruitition!!! Only one

problem - we need a boom. If anyone knows of an Enterprise boom

in HK please let us know.

CHANGE, CHALLENGE AND CORONA VIRUS

This is the tag line of the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) to which Sailability Hong Kong is accredited, as we came to the end of 2020. The same applies to us all at Sailability Hong Kong as say goodbye to 2020 and welcome 2021. We all came through it and are still smiling - let's look to a happier and healthier year with lots of sailing.

More importantly as we look forward to a restart to our programs with new schools, NGOs, Organisations and private individuals, as well as our regular sailors, waiting to get back in their boats, have the wind in their hair and feel the benefits of what Sailability Hong Kong offers. Together we can make it happen.

SUSPENSION OF PROGRAMS

Our programs were suspended once again on 5th December 2020 with the closure of all sporting programs. Why not take a look back at our sailing news of 2020 as a reminder of what we did achieve in 2020 and why we all love to be on the water, how beneficial it is to us all. We managed to achieve a lot in the few months we were able to operate.

At the moment it doesn't look as if we will be back sailing until after Chinese New Year and then maybe not until March. Let's do what we all do at Sailability and look to the positives and work towards the busy times ahead. They will come!!!

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN 2021

Looking forward - take a look at this page to cheer yourself up as you see the events already being organised as we look forward to later this year. You will be amazed and if you would like to be part of any of these events please contact me at kay@sailability.org.hk

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Instructor Andy with our new sailors from SLIX and the HK Amputee Assoc

Meeting 1st Step sailors at the start of their first sailing day

and very happy at the end of their sailing day

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Thank you Paul and Candy for the training given to our Tier 2 sailors all of whom I am sure are looking to join our International Para Sailing Team soon.