The Mobility Cup 2011
Bob Wercholoz spoke to club members on January 18 about the Mobility Cup 2011, an opportunity for disabled sailors to put their sailing skills to the test. What follows are his speaking notes.
Imagine leaving the confines of your wheelchair and going sailing!
This is what many of our sailors look forward to every spring.
Are you aware that 15.5% of Ontario’s population has some type of disability?
You probably know someone in your family or an acquaintance that falls into this category.
I am one of these people due to a hearing loss. Our Able Sail programs are there to teach and enable people with physical disabilities to get out on the water and go sailing. This opportunity allows these sailors to compete on a level playing field with able bodied sailors!
“Freedom and Possibility”
Sailing is the fastest growing sport for people with physical disabilities.
From August 29 to September 2, 2011 an exciting world sanctioned sailing regatta will be held on the waters of Burlington Bay. It is called the Mobility Cup 2011. This event is truly international, with competitors not only from US and Canada but Europe, Australia and New Zealand. This is a joint venture between RHYC & BS&BC.
The Sport became a Paralympics Summer Games event in 2000 with a class of dinghy sailboat called a 2.4. This class will be competing for the North American Championship at this regatta. In addition, the Liberty Class will be competing for the Canadian Championships for the first time ever.
The event is open to all, regardless of disability or skill level and experience. One class of the 3 types of boats is designed to have a companion sailor to support the competitor, but not the actual sailing of the boat.
We anticipate 75 to 85 athletes will compete in this event. They will be accompanied by caregivers, family and friends; this will likely result in up to 300 people attending.
Mobility Cup has become an international fixture, promoting the establishment of new and growing sailing programs across Canada.
The History of this amazing sport goes back to Rick Hansen’s ‘Man in Motion’ campaign. He received the gift of an ‘Able Sail’ boat from Dame Margaret Thatcher at Expo 86 in Vancouver. Rick donated the boat a couple of years later to Sam Sullivan, the former paraplegic Mayor of Vancouver with the stipulation it had to be used for people with physical disabilities.
Sam promptly founded the first ‘Able Sail’ program in Canada. This is known as the Disabled Sailing Association of B.C.
The rest as they say is history!
(Please read on for the remainder of his presentation)
Imagine leaving the confines of your wheelchair and going sailing! This is what many of our sailors look forward to every spring.
Are you aware that 15.5% of Ontario’s population has some type of disability? You probably know someone in your family or an acquaintance that falls into this category. I am one of these people due to a hearing loss.
Our Able Sail programs are there to teach and enable people with physical disabilities to get out on the water and go sailing. This opportunity allows these sailors to compete on a level playing field with able bodied sailors!
“Freedom and Possibility”
Sailing is the fastest growing sport for people with physical disabilities.
From August 29 to September 2, 2011 an exciting world sanctioned sailing regatta will be held on the waters of Burlington Bay. It is called the Mobility Cup 2011. This event is truly international, with competitors not only from US and Canada but Europe, Australia and New Zealand. This is a joint venture between RHYC & BS&BC.
The Sport became a Paralympics Summer Games event in 2000 with a class of dinghy sailboat called a 2.4. This class will be competing for the North American Championship at this regatta. In addition, the Liberty Class will be competing for the Canadian Championships for the first time ever.
The event is open to all, regardless of disability or skill level and experience. One class of the 3 types of boats is designed to have a companion sailor to support the competitor, but not the actual sailing of the boat.
We anticipate 75 to 85 athletes will compete in this event. They will be accompanied by caregivers, family and friends; this will likely result in up to 300 people attending.
Mobility Cup has become an international fixture, promoting the establishment of new and growing sailing programs across Canada.
The History of this amazing sport goes back to Rick Hansen’s ‘Man in Motion’ campaign. He received the gift of an ‘Able Sail’ boat from Dame Margaret Thatcher at Expo 86 in Vancouver. Rick donated the boat a couple of years later to Sam Sullivan, the former paraplegic Mayor of Vancouver with the stipulation it had to be used for people with physical disabilities.
Sam promptly founded the first ‘Able Sail’ program in Canada. This is known as the Disabled Sailing Association of B.C.
The rest as they say is history!
Our Committee:
We are fortunate to have a well known businessman and sailor as our Honourary Chair.
Donald M. Green has held many important positions in industry and held directorship as many non-profit organizations in Hamilton and Burlington. Don was most recently Chairman of the Board of MacMaster University’s Board of Governor’s.
Don is a member, as well as Past Commodore of the The Royal Hamilton Yacht Club. He is best known as the Skipper of the yacht Evergreen, winner of the Canada’s Cup in 1978. I think Don is working harder now, than when he was, before retiring.
Laurel Thompson, retired business woman, sailor and dedicated volunteer in the Hamilton Burlington area represents the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, as Co-Chair. Laurel was the recipient of Rotary’s prestigious Paul Harris Fellow award for 20 years of service to Junior Achievement in Burlington.
Each Mobility Cup has a tradition to leave a legacy for the Clubs who hold the event. We have applied for Government support to build new Able Sail docks with 4 new personal lifts for the event; these will be shared equally after the event between Hamilton and Burlington to continue the growth of their Able Sail programs on both sides of the Bay.
No competitor will be turned away for lack of funds or the ability to ship their boat here. In Canada, CN will ship all boats to and from the event in containers for FREE. All competitors will be given access to a boat while here. We will encourage out of country competitors to contact their local Rotarians for support if they need it to come to Canada for the event. We are in touch with the Rotary Club of San Francisco at this very moment in time to help us bring six sailors and their boats to our event. Air Canada is offering a discount to all competitors, companions and family members to fly here for the event.
As a Rotarian, I support Rotary International’s suggestion that we, as individual Clubs, become more pro-active and visible in our communities. The 4 Clubs in Burlington are currently working together to have a full page ad in the Burlington Post once a month for 10 months. Each Club is contributing $2500 each to support this undertaking.
The primary reason for being here today is to extend this concept of our 4 Club’s efforts in Burlington, as well as raise awareness to as many Clubs in Southern Ontario Districts to support our decision for Rotary to become the Title Sponsor of the Mobility Cup 2011.
Based on the excellent responses received to date, our committee has officially designated this event as the “Rotary Mobility Cup 2011”. We are proud to have such a prestigious group as our Title Sponsor. Rotary will be a key part of our marketing, press releases, magazine coverage locally and internationally as well the Rotary logo on our hats, T-shirts and documentation.
We are encouraging you to join with many other Rotary clubs as a member of the Title Sponsor for this event. Please check out our web site: www.mobilitycup2011.ca. There is also a link here to Rotary International.
Major Sponsor Announcement:
We are proud to announce today that we have secured our first major sponsor. Fox 40 Marine Products, a division of Fox 40 International, under the leadership of Ron & Dave Foxcroft, will be providing much needed safety equipment to the more than 70 competitors and 300 volunteers who will be participating in the Rotary Mobility Cup 2011.
Our Financial Requirements:
Our budget for cash requirements totals $130,000. The gifts in kind budgeted amount is an additional $165,000 giving us a total budget of $295,000. We have received significant pledges for the gift in kind requirements already. We have applied for grants for dock requirements in the amount of $47,000. This means we have to raise an additional cash amount of $83,000, providing we are successful in our grant application.
You can raise your visibility in the Community in two ways; firstly by making a financial contribution from your Club, secondly by joining the team of 300 volunteers required to make the 5 days of the event possible. You will join with other community groups such as Hamilton Retired Police and Firefighters, Halton Firefighters, both active and retired.
There will be training available for the many tasks required for the events, getting competitors in and out of their boats, rigging boats, moving the boats, food organizing, as well as on the water safety jobs and less active roles to make the event possible.
The logistics in running this event are enormous, but the rewards are priceless.
As Sam Sullivan, the former Mayor of Vancouver, who became a quadriplegic at 19 years of age and founded the first Mobility Cup in 1991 stated: “It is my wish that Mobility Cup stand as a symbol of freedom and possibility and to demonstrate that all areas of life can be made accessible for people with all levels of disability”.
We invite you join with us in continuing to help grow our local sailing programs for all people with physical disabilities. Let’s keep Sam’s dream alive and make the Mobility Cup 2011 the biggest and best ever.
Thank you for having us.