A 35 ft catamaran which can be sailed by disabled folks is on show in London

Wheelchair-bound Mike Wood, who started a charity to build wheelchair accessible yachts that any disabled person can use, has built a 35 foot catamaran that can be sailed single- handed by a person in a wheelchair or lived on by family/crew  of nine with disabled members.

Without the mast and rig it is a power cruiser – with the mast and rig it will sail at three knots in a variable force 2 wind or at 15 knots in a force 5.

She has no gangway, instead electric lifts take the crew below decks. The boat is on show at the Cruising Associaition in Limehouse Basin, east London.

Mike also designed and built Verity K a 35 foot monohull cruising yacht that can be sailed single-handed by a person in a wheelchair or lived on by family of five with a disabled member. The yacht is used by 400 disabled people per year and was launched by Princess Anne.