Sailors with disABILITIES must sit and wait

• NEWS
• 29 Dec, 2007 06:51:00 PM

Sailors with disABILITIES must sit and wait

One night down at the chart table when they were trying to tune the radio, those who couldn’t see the numbers recited to those who could and who could press the buttons.

The yacht Sailors with disABILITIES, always a crowd favourite in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, has to sit and wait in Hobart’s King’s Pier marina to find out whether it is going to win the Performance Handicap System (PHS) division of the race.

The PHS boats are not contenders for overall honours in the race. Their handicap is assessed on past performance rather than hull, sail and standing rigging measurement.

“Right now we’re looking pretty flash on handicap, but Helsal’s out there and she’s going to give us a run,” said David Pescud, skipper of the yacht partially crewed by disabled sailors.

In past years, she has sailed to Hobart seven times under different guises – Aspect Computing, Kaz and now Sailors with disABILITIES. This year she sailed with 13 crew, of whom two were dyslexic, one was vision impaired and one hearing impaired, which made things interesting, according to Pescud.

One night down at the chart table when they were trying to tune the radio, those who couldn’t see the numbers recited to those who could and who could press the buttons.

Shortly after mooring in Hobart, Pescud said it would be a waiting game.

“It’s all down to the wind. It’s a bit of a lottery, isn’t it? Everyone’s on tenterhooks for the next 24 hours.”

While Sailors with disABILITIES leads in the clubhouse (the boat to beat), Rick Scott-Murphy’s Canberra Ocean Racing Club boat Namadgi is the leading boat at sea. It has until 4pm tomorrow to finish but is due in at about 9.30am.

By the way, Canberra is no impediment to ocean racing. Their boats normally sail out of Sydney.

Pescud need not have feared Tasmanian entry Helsal IV. She appears to have run out of time.

Pescud said he hoped to compete with disabled sailors next year, but was looking for sponsorship since most of the money for the campaign this year came out of his own pocket.

“We’re hoping like crazy we can find a sponsor,” he said.