Severely disabled Mike Wood wants to raise £1.5 million to build and run a catamaran yacht to introduce disabled children and young people to sailing.
Very quietly over the last 30 years Mike has raised over £5 million to invest in sailing for disabled people and nearly 50,000 people have used the amazing yachts and dinghies he designed and built. Mike was injured in a motorcycle accident in 1978, paralysed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair. Mike was introduced to the sport during rehabilitation and pushed to excellence by his physiotherapist while at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Mike said: “Lone, pronounced Lorna, a beautiful Danish Physio was a real taskmaster, she demanded that all her patients be the absolute best they could be, and I was proud to be one of them.”
Inspired or pushed by Lone, Mike became very successful at every sport he tried, spotted by the Great Britain Disabled Athletic team Mike joined the team and represented GB at National and International events. He became the record holder for Archery, Discus, Javelin, Shot, Quadrathlon, Wheelchair Rugby and a multi Gold Medal collector. Leisure activities were Mike’s next pursuits and UK National Champion in Angling, Kart Racing and Sailing were added to his list of achievements.
All this was in the 1980s and Mike said: “I was often refused access to facilities and became annoyed that all the organisations that say they provided facilities for disabled people could not or would not help wheelchair users, they said we were too difficult or too expensive to cater for.”
During Mike’s sporting career he said: “I found a great many other disabled people with similar complaints, especially young people. At first I was just sad about it, then annoyed and then quite angry and decided to use my contacts from sport to do something about it.”
In 1993 Mike and another disabled friend, Rob Williams set up a national monthly magazine called RED HERRING, because that was what it was, a ruse to check to check the demand for leisure and sport for disabled people and available facilities. The demand was enormous and the facilities shown as poor, so Mike and Rob decided to do something about it. Rob went on to develop IT systems and Mike formed a charity to provide leisure and sporting facilities for wheelchair users, now known as the Disabled Sailors Association.
Mike said: “A small group of friends and I developed many sports and leisure activities over the years but we kept coming back to sailing as it offers so much to wheelchair users and if it is easy for a wheelchair user it’s easy for anyone.”
What other activity can offer, for any type of disability, from tranquil drifting about on a quiet sunny afternoon to the steep learning curve of trimming your sails to perfection, the mental agility of navigation and race tactics to the adrenaline action of overtaking at a mark in a race, you can be alone or in a group or a team, so many choices, you do not need to be wet or cold, you do not need special clothes or equipment or even special knowledge… unless you want to.
Mike’s research had shown the demand for a sailing yacht that would allow a family with a disabled person in the group to sail and live on. He raised the half million to design and build a yacht that a person in a wheelchair could sail by themselves with or without the rest of the family and HRH the Princess Royal launched Verity K in 1995, and it was an instant success running to full capacity.
Demand meant Mike had to build something to take more people at a time and a fortunate meeting with Alistair Wood, no relation, led to a group of Vice-Patrons and the Scott Bader Resin Company cooperating the build an amazing catamaran that also could be sailed single-handed by a wheelchair user but could have a crew of 12 for day sailing and six for cruising. This was again an instant success and runs at full capacity.
For Mike it did not stop at yachts; after sailing was removed from the Paralympics Mike designed and built dinghies that cannot capsize or sink so that disabled people could sail in some safety and comfort and the World Sailing Authority had something to offer the Paralympic Committee.
Unique in the world, both the current RoRo’s, Verity K and Scott Bader are nearly 25-years-old and wearing out as they are in use much more than the average yacht. Any disabled person can sail them and live on them if they want to.
Mike said: “You are only a passenger with the DSA if you choose to be.”
Mike has worked with one of the world’s most prestigious catamaran builders, HH Catamarans, to arrive at a design for a new catamaran design. This will meet the needs of modern adventurous disabled young people including facilities for the most complex disability needs, hoists for toilets and showers, fridge for medical stores heating and air conditioning.
Mike said: “The DSA has never refused anyone because of their disability and the new design will allow us to continue this policy and extend our scope and availability.”
The new yacht is ready to be built and Mike already has half a million pounds raised towards it.
Further information is available on the DSA website https://www.disabledsailing.org
