Sailing for the blind and vision-impaired at MayFest
The 41st annual MayFest for adults and children who are blind and vision impaired was hosted by the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire this weekend, and for the first time, participants had the opportunity to try sailing and kayaking.
Pádraig Healy, National Sports Development Manager with Vision Sports Ireland said “We were thrilled to have the Royal St George Yacht Club as our HQ for Sunday’s activities. From when we first approached Ciarán Murphy in Irish Sailing and he introduced us to the staff at Royal St George Yacht Club it has been a seamless collaboration. It’s difficult to put into words the experience for a person who has no vision to participate in sailing or kayaking for the first time and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of being on the water in the beautiful Dun Laoghaire Harbor. Instructors from Irish Sailing and Canoeing Ireland ably supported by volunteers from Royal St George Yacht Club and Sandycove Kayaking Club provided our members with this unique experience and we hope that it will be the first of many trips on the water for those who participated. We at Vision Sports Ireland want to extend a huge thank you to all at Irish Sailing and RSGYC and we would welcome the opportunity to work with you again in the future to help make your wonderful sport accessible to some of our members.”
Participants in MayFest also had the opportunity to try a host of sports and physical activity sessions across UCD Sports Campus including vision impaired football, rugby, rock climbing, indoor rowing, athletics, tandem cycling and much more.
https://www.ncbi.ie/event/mayfest-2022-vision-sports-ireland-multi-sport-extravaganza-weekend/