Sports Sailing For The Intellectually Disabled

This decision followed a presentation by Jackie Kay, AM, secretary of Sailability World, at the INAS-FID Conference and General Assembly in Tunisia on April 19 to 22.

Kay is also a member of the Development Committee of the International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) and a member of the IPS Development Committee's Experts Network.

Sailability World is an international co-operative network of national associations seeking to develop sailing worldwide for people of all abilities.

Sailability World is eager to take sailing to development nations, and also works to include sailors with any kind of disability, the elderly and disadvantaged people into mainstream activities.

IFDS is a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), but persons with an intellectual disability are ineligible to compete under current IFDS rules or in IPC events.  Sailability World will work with INAS-FID in staging international and other sailing championships for sailors with an intellectual disability.

While many sailors with an intellectual disability are already active members of Sailability clubs, future INAS-FID approved events will provide much needed competition pathways.

Phil Vardy president of Sailability World said: "Sailability World looks forward to working iwth IFDS, using the experience gained from these regattas, to develop integration of people with intellectual disabilities within IFDS activities and events."

For more information, visit www.sailability.org