Sailing for people with disabilities

Sailing has an important role to play in the social integration of people with disabilities.
At the Vela sense Límits (Sailing without Limits) sailing school, our aim is not just to make sailing and life at sea accessible to people with psychological, physical or sensory disabilities, but also to create an environment which can be shared and experienced by everyone regardless of ability. At the school we do our best to facilitate this in three ways: rehabilitation, sports training and competition sports.

Main objectives
- Enable disabled students to experience all of the unfamiliar sensations produced by sailing at sea.
- Introduce people with disabilities to sailing.
- Improve the performance of those disabled people who wish to continue in the sport

Other specific objectives
- Enable students to acquire a basic theoretical knowledge appropriate to their abilities and to understand the basic rules of safety at sea.
- Establish good social relationships to enable good team work.
- Improve students’ physical condition.
- Enable students to enjoy open-air sport in the maritime environment.
- Give students the opportunity to experience and to get comfortable with the maritime environment.

Activities
- Introduction: Two-hour session to introduce students to sailing.
- Beginners: Course taught in training boat (Gamba or Raquero).
- Advanced: Improvers course taught in training boat (Optimist or 420).
- Family crews: Sailing in teams including one disabled person and one or more members of his or her family, all of whom are taught together.
- Other activities: sailing holiday camps, sailing days (for groups, from 10 to 18 hours)

At Sailing without Limits, we believe that people with disabilities should have the opportunity to take part in sailing activities and benefit from the advantages that the sport offers: improved physical and psycho-motor performance, psychological benefits and a wider social network.