Celebrating 30 years

Published 01:00 on 20 Jun 2023

2023 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Woolverstone Project. The Royal Harwich Yacht Club founded the Project in 1993, the year of the Club's 150th Anniversary. It was the brainchild of the then Commodore Mrs Margaret Howard. There should be, she said, an organisation within the Club which would provide the facilities to sail for any person with any disability whatsoever, be it physical or sensory and its creation would also be a memorable way to mark the Anniversary. However because the Project found it necessary a year later to become a registered charity it was no longer able to remain a sub committee of the club and so the Club elected it as an Associate Member. we have remained associate members of the club ever since.

Our fleet has gradually grown and developed and the scale of operation has kept growing over the years thanks to the unstinting efforts of all the volunteers involved over the years and we are proud to have reached the position we are now in.

To celebrate the last 30 years, it was therefore very appropriate to host an event at the RHYC on June 19th 2023. We were supported at the event by EAST from Levington who provided four Sonars and many visitors and the RHYC also provided a fleet of Ajax 23s which combined with our Sonar and Wheelyboat gave an impressive fleet for visitors to try. With visitors from sailability clubs all over the region, it meant that it was a complete celebration of sailability in the eastern region. We were delighted as well to have along the local RYA Disability Development Officer (Jane Ellison) and the RYA Head of Sailability (Joff McGill).

Thanks to everyone who helped out - the complex organisation of the day was led by Peter Hibberd with a team of other volunteers and supporters from EAST, the RHYC and the project - a true collaborative effort and a nice illustration of everything that has made the project what it is today.

Last updated 15:16 on 19 July 2023