Luke Barbanneau is an 18 year-old Cambridge student with cerebral palsy, which severely affects his co-ordination and balance. Undeterred by his physical condition, Luke sees himself as a fairly typical student living a fairly typical student life. Luke's main passion is sailing. His story is an inspiration to all regardless of age or mobility.

Luke, from Oxford, discovered sailing at the age of 15 more by chance than a burning desire to get involved in the sport. He had known about the local RYA Sailability group for several years but was always busy with other pursuits and hobbies. One summer evening he decided to find out a bit more.
He was put straight into a boat, enjoyed it enough to return the following week and hasn't looked back since.

Luke's cerebral palsy restricts his mobility on the land and he spends most of his time in a wheelchair. Parents and friends take him to his local sailing club and the university has agreed to provide transport to Grafham Water for any term time sailing. Restrictions imposed on the land disappear on the water, and Luke is independent, free and exhilarated.

He comments -
'When I am sailing I love the freedom, speed, adrenaline and the competition. I also love the community spirit and how friendly sailors are but without a doubt my favourite thing is competing.'

The majority of Luke's experience has been in Challengers, fast, stable, high performance boats adapted for disabled sailors. Not only is this the first boat Luke sailed and loved it but he also feels most attached to this class.
Amazingly after only three years of sailing Challengers Luke became national champion at the end of last season. His passion for the boat is obvious -

'There are so many good things about the Challenger -it's fast and can be sailed very competitively. It's also adaptable and suitable for single-handed sailing. I really appreciate knowing it isn't going to capsize on me too!'

Luke has tried a wide variety of other classes including the Firefly and the single handed access dinghy, and is keen to try a 2.4R in the future as a way into the international disabled racing scene.

Luke adds-
'I was lucky enough to be part of a sponsored Sonar team at Cowes Week last summer. I started off on the helm but switched to navigator when the wind became too strong. That was an unforgettable experience and I would like to sail a Sonar again.'

Luke is studying Natural Sciences at Pembroke College, Cambridge, hoping to specialise in Physics. The course is both interesting and challenging but more intensive then he expected. In fact it takes up most of his time including Saturday mornings so currently there is no sailing in term time.

Luke's advice to anyone with disabilities who would like to start sailing is
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'Talk to any sailor's you know - they tend to be very helpful and may well be able to drive you to their club, help you rig up and still get out on the water themselves. At Cambridge I make sure that being disabled doesn't get in the way of living my life and other people see that and accept me as I am.'

RYA Sailability groups are always keen to help people get onto the water and recruit new club members. To find out more contact David Wilding, the Eastern Regional Organiser on tel 0777 4076087 or email dkwilding@tiscali.co.uk. For information on the Grafham Sailability group based in Huntingdon, contact Judi Figgures on 01480 434011 or judifiggures@hotmail.com To find out about your
local RYA Sailability group anywhere in the UK and how to get onto the water log onto www.rya.org.uk/sailability or call Connie Lebrun on 0845 345 0403.