COURTESY SAIL CAPE COD
Laurel Labdon enjoys sailing in Lila, Sail Cape Cod’s new adaptive sailboat.
HYANNIS – There are emotional benefits that only the wind, the sun, a sail and the sea can provide.
That is the concept behind Sail Cape Cod’s SeaLegs, which is an adaptive sailing program, a first for Cape Cod, that uses a specially designed sailboat to allow people with a variety of disabilities to get out on the water.
Sailing has always been therapeutic for Laurel Labdon of Brewster, long before she was disabled by a spinal cord injury as a college student.
In her role as the honorary chair of Sail Cape Cod’s SeaLegs program, Labdon wrote, “My particular circumstances have enabled me to continue to get out on my family’s sailboat and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of sailing. But unfortunately, that is the exception not the rule. So many of the disabled community don’t have that opportunity, the opportunity to gain some freedom and independence, to learn new skills, to participate in a sport. These benefits are immeasurable in their importance. The self-esteem, confidence and feelings of accomplishment that sailing gives to anyone is multiplied infinitely for those of us in the disabled community, where the options to participate in most sports is extremely limited.”
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Laurel Labdon getting ready to sail.
Labdon went from being a child with no physical limitations, growing up on Cape Cod and enjoying sailing and other sports, to being a quadriplegic adult.
“Sailing has always been the best medicine for me,” Labdon wrote.
The SeaLegs program took its inaugural trip last week, bringing Labdon and Craig Bautz, a paraplegic who founded the business CAPE-able Adventures-Adaptive Sports out to test the new boat.
Bautz’s company offers adaptive sports like kayaking, paddle boarding and biking to people with disabilities. He is also an avid skier.
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Craig Bautz gets ready to go onboard Lila, Sail Cape Cod’s new adaptive sailboat.
The test ride was a big success, according to Michael Trovato, president of Sail Cape Cod.
Bautz was, Trovato recalled, “smiling from ear to ear the whole time from the time we left the dock to the time we came in. He may still be smiling.”
Labdon was taken out with her parents, Bob and Jane, in a family excursion. Bob is a master sailer and he captained the boat. “I think Bob enjoyed it as much if not more than Laurel did,” Trovato said.
Trovato noted that the adaptive boat, Lila, is just the first in what he hopes will be a series of boats that are adjusted based on the needs of participants in the program.
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Craig Bautz skippers Sail Cape Cod’s new adaptive sailboat.
He said sailing can be therapeutic for anyone, physically and psychologically.
“It’s quite an equalizer,” he said. “That feeling out on the water, feeling the wind on your face. Being able to move freely around on the water is psychologically helpful.
Sail Cape Cod has for several years taken developmentally disabled people out for sailing trips in the waters of Lewis Bay
The addition of Lila to the program will allow even more people to experience sailing, Trovato said.
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Sail Cape Cod’s new boat Lila is designed to be sailed by people with disabilities.
Lila is a Fareast 18-foot keelboat that has been specially retrofitted with custom-made sails, modular harnessed seating in both skipper and crew positions, to give better access to the steering and sail-trimming functions, and is designed to be a stable sailing platform for sailors with disabilities.
Trovato said using a keel instead of a centerboard-style boat allows increased stability. The keel is four-feet deep and has a 600-pound lead bulb on it to make it a very stable boat, Trovato said.
The boat is particularly designed for people with spinal chord injuries or amputees, he said.
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Craig Bauz, who founded an adaptive sports company on the Cape, arrives at the dock to sail on the Lila.
Both Labdon and Bautz were serving to test out the boat in the inaugural rides to comment on how it works and suggest any improvements.
Trovato said, Labdon drove in the crew seat and was able to do some trimming of the jib sheets. Bautz drove in the skipper seat and was able to sail the boat on his own.
Among the modifications suggested by Bautz was to make adjustments in the skipper seat to be able to get some more upper trunk stabilization with maybe a chest belt.
Labdon suggested the passenger seat could be at a different position to give her a better angle to help trim the sails.
Bautz also suggested the creation of a slide board for boarding rather than the hoyer lift would allow people with sufficient upper body strength to get themselves from their wheelchair on the boat without assistance.
Trovato said Sail Cape Cod appreciates the comments.
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“This is what we call our 1.0 boat. It is our first iteration of an adaptive boat. Obviously there are so many varied disabilities that it may not fit every single type. As we go along, we’ll modify this boat and maybe future versions of the boat will handle more severe disabilities,” Trovato said. “The advancements that are in adaptive sports right now are just amazing.”
Funding to purchase the adaptive sailboat was provided with support from the Lyndon Paul Lorusso Charitable Foundation. It was outfitted by Sturgis Boatworks in Yarmouth.
The boat was named “Lila” in honor of Lyndon’s mother, the late Mrs. Lila Lorusso.
With cooperation from the town of Barnstable, Sail Cape Cod has also installed a portable hoyer-style lift at the Gary Brown Ramp dock to accommodate sailors in need of special boarding assistance from wheelchair to boat. Funding for the hoyer lift was provided through a grant from Rockland Trust.
Sail Cape Cod partners with a number of organizations on the Cape that work with people with disabilities. Individuals can contact the organization to be put into a schedule to go out in the boat, but because it is late in the season, the trip might be for next year.
“We’re really looking forward to next year and having a full-on program from the very beginning of the sailing season straight on through,” he said.
Sail Cape Cod will be hosting a dedication ceremony for its first adaptive sailboat and hoyer lift this week.
The dedication is scheduled for Tuesday, August 25 at 4 p.m. at the town landing at the Gary Brown Boat Ramp dock at the end of Lewis Bay Road in Hyannis.
By LAURA M. RECKFORD, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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