Adaptive Sailing Clinic on Burlington’s Waterfront
Report By: Christine Sounders, My Champlain Valley.com
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Any person, any age, any skill level can learn to sail.
That’s the message behind one unique clinic.
Sunday, the Sailing Center teamed up with the Adaptive Sailing Clinic to make that a reality.
ABC22’s Chief Photojournalist Steve Longchamp takes us to Lake Champlain for an up close look at these promising sailors in action.
“We’re doing an Adaptive Sailing Clinic to generate interest for our programs. We’re trying to get more disabled sailors involved in the programs. We have two Martin 16 sailboats that we sail at Mallett’s Bay and there’s two Martin 16 sailboats at the Community Sailing Center, so there’s a lot of opportunities for people with disabilities to sail,” said Brad Stevenson, a disabled sailor.
“We like to say that we leave our dependence on the docks, you know when we go out sailing. That you’re out there and it’s just you and the boat and the wind and the water. And the boat’s designed so that it minimizes any of the physical components of sailing so that you are the skipper and working directly with nature and the elements at that point. There’s nothing more liberating than that,” said Patrick Standen with Northeast Disabled Athletic Association.
