A vintage ketch converted to carry sailors with physical disabilities will join the fleet at this year's Vele d'Epoca di Imperia, bringing a message of inclusion to the Ligurian regatta.
The boat is Cadamà, a 22-metre wooden ketch built in 1971 by Cantieri Navali di La Spezia. In recent years she has taken on a new purpose, converted into what organisers describe as the first fully accessible vintage sailing yacht, free of the physical barriers that would normally keep wheelchair users off a boat like this.
Her deck plan and interior have been partly redesigned to safely accommodate up to four people in wheelchairs.
Special ergonomic seating lets sailors with mobility impairments actually take part in handling the boat, working the sheets, halyards and running rigging from their positions on all points of sail. For anyone stepping aboard the two-masted yacht, it promises to be as much a learning experience as a sailing one.
"The experience of sailing becomes an authentically inclusive activity, where teamwork erases differences," the promoters said. "Among the waves, the boat becomes a place of sharing and inner growth, capable of showing that, with the help of design, physical disability is no longer a limit to sailing and to promoting the sport."
Vele d'Epoca di Imperia runs from 28 August to 6 September in the Ligurian port city, organised by the Comune di Imperia and Assonautica Imperia, working alongside the Yacht Clubs of Imperia and Sanremo.
