Mast Up on the First RS Venture Connect SCS in Australia
by RS Sailing 29 Jul 2024 13:30 PDT
The First RS Venture Connect SCS in Australia © Christopher Symonds
The first RS Venture Connect SCS has launched in Australian waters, the culmination of a two-year-long bid to bring the award-winning adaptive sailing boat down under.
The boat was purchased by Wynyard Yacht Club, supported by the Leo Lion Foundation (formerly known as the COINS Foundation) and North-West Support Services through the Sailability program. Commodore of the club, Christopher Symonds, spearheaded the club's funding efforts. A Para World Champion sailor himself, he wanted to bring accessibility to the sport and use the boat for inclusive programs in his local area.
Designed with plug & play para inclusive sailing equipment options, the RS Venture Connect can be set up for almost any disability, removing barriers to entry and putting all sailors on a level playing field. All controls lead towards the cockpit and a weighted keel and masthead float makes the boat self-righting for additional safety.
Christopher is a trailblazer in the Australian para sailing community winning Australian Sailing's Para Sailor of the Year on five consecutive occasions. He lives with Kennedy's Disease, a progressive disease that effects motor neurons. "My strength is limited but as a sailing team we can achieve the highest level - which is so rewarding." Christopher started racing in para sailing classes in 2014 and has three Para World Championship titles in the doubles, singles and para categories of the Hansa 303 class.
Two Years in the Making
Christopher first stepped into the RS Venture Connect in Oman in 2022, arriving early at the RS Venture Connect Worlds in Mussanah to train before the event. "I never had the opportunity to sail the RS Venture Connect", said Christopher in his 2022 RS Sailing interview. "After visiting the RS factory while in the UK, where we were welcomed to look over the RS Venture Connect (as there are no boats in Australia) it was here I decided we should compete." Wanting to unite para sailors together behind the bid to reinstate sailing in the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, Christopher felt it was important to be part of the event; "many of the world's best para sailors entered the competition."
Christopher and his crew Manuela Klinger narrowly missed out on a podium position placing fourth in the 2022 event, and he's been hooked on getting the first RS Venture Connect SCS into Australia ever since.
Bringing Boating to the Community
"The RS Venture Connect, as a club boat, will add a further dimension to the highly successful Sailability fleet of HANSA 303s", explains Christopher. The community focus of the RS Venture Connect will be managed by Committee of Management member, Neal Rodwell CEO of North West Support Services, one of the largest disability support organisations in Tasmania.
The boat will be used to introduce sailing to people managing disability, health conditions, aging and other marginalising circumstances.
Supporting Para Sailing and Opening up sailing to everyone in Australia
"The RS Venture Connect SCS club boat at Wynyard Yacht Club will be used for a range of activities including Sailability, learn-to-sail programs, club racing and training ahead of International RS Venture Connect competitions," Christopher explains. "While complimenting the 23 other club-owned dinghies that include Optimists, Pacers, Hansa 303s and Laser, this will be the first boat to have a spinnaker and cater for a broader weight range. Wynyard Yacht Club has ensured one and two person seating options will be available. The club's goal is to be a Para Training Centre for when sailing is reinstated into the Paralympics."
The RS Venture Connect takes accessible boating to the next level, with simple, modular ways of adapting the boat to a wide variety of disability specific requirements and everything can be retrofitted on the same boat. This feature makes it possible for clubs, foundations and other organisations to run para inclusive programs on a long-term basis. Costs, time and resource are saved by having one boat that can do it all. In return, even more sailors can be offered unforgettable experiences.
The boat at Wynyard Yacht Club was sourced and imported by RS Sailing Australian distributor, Sailing Raceboats Pty. The team have been doing a great deal of work at local level to encourage clubs in Australia to try out the RS Venture Connect.
Ready for the Worlds
"The growth of Para Sailing in Australia has been difficult without funding available to athletes to travel within and outside of Australia," explains Christopher. "Many past coaching programs have stalled, as a result numbers have stagnated. Regardless of these challenges there are two Australian teams heading to the 2024 RS Venture Connect Worlds later this year!" Christopher, and his crew Samantha Bailey, are one of them, alongside defending World Champions Genevieve Wickham and Grant Alderson who took gold in the 2023 RS Venture Connect Worlds in Rostock, Germany.
RS Venture Connect Class Builders' Representative, Dan Jaspers, is thrilled with the news: "I am very excited that Wynyard Yacht Club in Tasmania has been successful in its purchase of an RS Venture Connect with the Seated Control System... the first of what I am sure will be many over the coming years. The addition of this award-winning boat to the fleet of adaptive sailboats used for the Inclusive Sailing program at the club will play a huge part in the growth of Para Inclusive sailing in Australia in the future. I look forward to seeing Chris and his crew at the Class World Championship in the UK later this year so that I can thank him in person."