Tall ship enables the disabled

A WARM WELCOME awaited the tall ship Tenacious when she docked at Sydney recently, after a 17,000-mile voyage from Southampton.

The three-masted square-rigger is one of two specially-designed sailing vessels owned and operated by the Jubilee Sailing Trust, set up in 1978 to give people of all physical abilities the chance to experience sailing first hand.

The trust’s mission is to empower both able-bodied and disabled individuals to focus on what they can do, rather than what they can’t, and to correct misconceptions about disability. It works to build bridges of awareness and break down barriers for a better, more inclusive world.

“We’ve been through gales, fog, thunderstorms, tropical downpours and some really great sailing under blue, sunny skies,” said Simon Catterson, the ship’s master. “Since coming through the Panama Canal in January, we’ve visited ten different countries.”

The trip’s been a voyage of firsts: the first time in her 16-year history that the Tenacious had transited the Panama Canal; and the first time she crossed the equator, west of the Galapagos Islands, to enter the southern hemisphere in March.

The voyage was supported throughout her travels by GAC Pindar Superyacht Services, which provided Tenacious with a range of services including port agency, fuel supplies, Panama Canal transit coordination and spare parts logistics.