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Kithugala
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The only boat that Rutland Sailability (which provides sailing opportunities for the disabled) had which was suitable for participation in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was 'Wally Goldsmith', a Drascombe Longboat presented to them by The Rotary Club of Oundle.
To meet the Pageant regulations, the boat could not be sailed but had to be powered. Modifications for fitting an outboard engine were made and designs made to replace the existing brown sails with the specially-made mesh sails seen above with embroidered logos representing Rutland. (The fact that the sails were up is claimed as unique amongst the 1,000-odd self-powered boats participating).
The crew was: skipper: Geoff Willerton; navigator: Martin Sutcliffe; crew: John Deane, Craig Nairn, Ian McNair and Bill Ridlington. All were Rutland Sailability members. The boat was officially launched on Rutland Water by the High Sheriff, Bart Hellyer on 30 May 2012.
The boat and more importantly, the crew, were on the river in very demanding conditions for a total of 10.5 hours (I must admit that until reading this I hadn't realised the length of the day for all of the crews involved)! This was a tremendous feat of endurance and three of the crew needed some minor medical attention at the end of the event (presumably for exposure because the weather conditions were most definitely not the best!).
The above details are all taken from the summer 2012 edition of Rutland Sailability's newsletter 'Gone Sailing,' which I found online.
Tags: Wally Goldsmith Goldsmith Drascombe longboat Drascombe longboat Rutland Sailability The Rotary Club of Oundle powered sailboat dinghy vessel underway crown horseshoe diamond logos R58 B15 mesh sails mesh sails River Thames river Thames Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant London UK 2012
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H3 Road North of Malelane Gate, Kruger NP, Mpumalanga, SOUTH AFRICA
H3 Road North of Malelane Gate, Kruger NP, Mpumalanga, SOUTH AFRICA