Skip To Content

08 December 2025

Introducing Sailability to your venue

How an East coast club launched accessible sailing for all

Club overview

Snettisham Beach Sailing Club in Norfolk has access to both the tidal waters of The Wash and an inland lake, offering a wide variety of activities for all levels throughout the main season from March to October, alongside all year round social events. The club is an RYA Recognised Training Centre, plus OnBoard and British Sailing Pathway Club accredited for its junior and youth sailing.

Identifying the challenge

The club regularly hosts a complex needs school for activities on the water and wanted to make the enjoyment of sailing available to more people – including those with physical and learning disabilities and those who, as a result of age or personal circumstances, had previously been sailors but were finding it increasingly difficult to get afloat.

There were no Sailability centres within 50 miles of the club – a huge area of Norfolk including its second largest town King’s Lynn – and those centres beyond this distance were busy.

The club was receiving enquiries from disabled people, including an amputee and a stroke patient. After taking them out in a Wayfarer, the club realised they were unable to support those with limited mobility to get out sailing – but could make it happen.

With a challenging topography, including a steep ramp, and no boats for accessible sailing, the club needed to secure funding and make site improvements.

Implementing a solution

Working with RYA East Regional Developer Jane Ellison an accessibility audit was completed. The first year of Sailability development in 2024 was dedicated to fundraising to buy boats and make site improvements to the sheltered lake behind the club house.

The gravel beach was modified to create a wheelchair accessible pathway; a floating VersaDock pontoon with a hoist and handrails was installed; and the club bought two Hansa dinghies. Ongoing fundraising subsequently enabled the club to buy two more Hansa dinghies, plus a Wayfarer adapted for Sailability to use alongside the club Wayfarer.

Funding: Using publicity to raise awareness and tools such as Norfolk Grant Finder and RYA Funding Finder, the club raised over £65,600 with an array of grants and donations, from sources including: Love Norfolk Community Fund; Sport England; RYA Foundation; local organisations such as Rotary, Norfolk Freemasons, Hunstanton Charity Shop and Snettisham Gardening Club; and company community funds like Tesco. The smallest grant was £250 from British Sugar for buoyancy aids, while Sport England matched club crowdfunding to raise £14,000 for an adapted Wayfarer – highlighting the effectiveness of fundraising for specific items and goals within the bigger picture. The largest grant was £19,000 from Norfolk Rural Development Fund. 

Volunteers: The club has a Volunteer Coordinator and hosted an RYA Disability Awareness Day and manual handling course for members. All Sailability volunteers are DBS checked and given training for the roles needed to support sessions. This has created a pool of more than 25 volunteers so individuals are not called upon to attend every week and can be rostered for dates which suit them, with around 10 needed at a time, alongside a paid RYA Senior Instructor who oversees the sessions. Volunteer helms are the hardest to find and the Women on Water group has been invited to get involved, along with sailors at other local clubs.

Sessions: The lake is managed by the RSPB with sailing available for 26 weeks of the year from April to October. Sailability operates as part of the club’s RYA Recognised Training Centre on Friday afternoons, with options for participants complete RYA Level 1 & 2 certificates, develop their skills informally, or simply enjoy getting on the water. Sessions operate on a ‘pay & play’ basis and are £12 per person or £90 for group bookings of 6-10 people to cover costs.

Assessing the impact

The first full season for Sailability at Snettisham Beach SC in 2025 demonstrated a clear demand for the sessions, with around 200 users in total. Its dinghies are in full use for each session, catering for around 40 participants a week and all ages from 12 to 90+.

Individuals include stroke patients and people with cerebral palsy, amputations and progressive lung conditions. Groups attending regularly have included the King’s Lynn Parkinson’s Support Group, Vision Norfolk and the brain injury association, Headway.

Some are former sailors, while others are new to the sport. Half a dozen participants have developed their skills from novice to sailing independently, and the feedback from both volunteers and those who have benefited is overwhelmingly positive.

One person said: “The difference this has made to my husband since his diagnosis has been huge. As an active outdoor person MND meant he lost so much; the accessible sailing has given him something back in his life. He enjoys the sessions enormously.”

Another added: “I’ve had Parkinson’s for 15 years. I never thought I’d experience being in a boat, sailing along with the wind. I find it exhilarating. I recommend everyone to take part in it, it’s an experience you won’t forget.”

Consolidating progress

The club hopes to encourage ‘buddy sailors’ who volunteer for the group to become RYA Assistant Instructors so they are better able to teach sailing skills, and to support other volunteers to take RYA Powerboat and Safety Boat courses.

Having demonstrated a demand for Sailability there will be further grant applications and fundraising to develop accessible changing/shower/toilet facilities. Alongside, this will create an opportunity to build new female and family changing areas and a training room.

There are plans for a fifth Hansa and the club is working with the Challenger class association to trial an accessible trimaran for those wanting to get on the sea. An electric motor is also on the wish list to help instructors be heard, and participants with sensory needs such autism.

Insights and tips

Former commodore and ongoing committee member Adrian Tebbutt is the club’s Accessible Sailing Coordinator, and was the driving force behind launching the Sailability section.

His advice includes having open discussions with club members, who may not all want to provide Sailability, and a clear plan from the outset with the aim of making it cost neutral; be honest about the fees for participants to cover maintenance, running costs and any paid staff.

Reflecting on the essential need to secure grant funding, Adrian says: “There’s money out there if you know where to look and how to apply. The secret is to have everything planned with quotes before you start, so it’s a case of: ‘This is what we’re going to do, this is the cost.’

“Not every application is successful but if you do get a grant, make sure you have a really good relationship with the provider. Invite them to see where the money has gone, so everybody is impressed by what you’re doing, and get your reporting done quickly and accurately; it goes a long way towards generating goodwill for when you need the next grant, the other secret being to not stop applying. We are continuously looking for funding, even if only for small amounts to cover the training of volunteers, or the cost of six sessions to bring in new groups.”

He adds that publicity is vital not only for attracting funding but also participants and volunteers: at Snettisham Beach SC this includes presentations to local groups, news releases to local media, and sharing videography via social media and YouTube.

Not working in isolation is key – the Sailability section and club support the RSPB with conservation work to help manage the lake; have good links with the Active Norfolk partnership for the county; and work with Community Action Norfolk and Volunteering Matters (formerly CSV), organisations which match volunteers with opportunities.

Adrian explains that while it can be a challenge to find volunteers for weekday sessions, advertising specific roles can help to attract interest from outside sailing – for example to cover meeting and greeting, mobility around the site, refreshments, pontoon and hoist.

Having enjoyed seeing the success of the first year of Sailability at Snettisham Beach SC, and at the age of 72, Adrian has a keen eye on succession planning and engaging volunteers who may take his and other roles going forward. He is also looking ahead to when he too may want to enjoy accessible sailing and swap his 2000 dinghy for a Challenger trimaran.

Passionate about the benefits of Sailability for both individuals and Snettisham Beach SC, Adrian sums up: “We’ve gained new members and it’s raised the profile of the club. We’ve enabled former sailors to return to the sport, and welcomed novices who are now able to sail independently, with participants saying they get so much more out of it than they ever expected. To see their progress and the smiles on people’s faces, I could talk this up for England!” 

Useful links

Accessibility