Californian sailor Terri Nelson likes nice things. One of her pet peeves, she tells me from her home in San Diego, is that even when checking into luxe hotels, as a wheelchair user she misses out on some of the finer design elements that other guests enjoy.
So it’s no surprise that when she commissioned a custom-designed trimaran, one of the key briefs was that it should not look like an adaptive boat. Instead it needed to combine performance, style, and a certain luxuriousness: a tough brief.
Terri Nelson had sailed for much of her adult life, initially on Hobie Cats, then Catalina 30s, and bareboat chartering with friends all over the Caribbean. Always highly active despite her limited mobility, she enjoyed adaptive snow skiing and, as she puts it, “trying almost everything except parachuting”. For many years she used crutches to get about on land, and found the confines of a cockpit relatively easy to manoeuvre herself around in. After Nelson became a parent she began using a wheelchair more frequently. Her love of sailing never waned, however, and once her daughter had grown up she began to mull the idea of building a custom boat that would be fully wheelchair accessible.
“One day I thought, it’s either now or never. So I looked up who the local marine architects were, and I decided to drive down to Shelter Island and just see if there’s a parking place, because that’s important to me. Sure enough, there was a place right in front of Reichel/Pugh’s office.”
The spontaneous trip led to a meeting with the Reichel/Pugh design team, and the concept of Trinity was born.
Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Yachting World.
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Yachting World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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5 EXPERT TIPS BOB BEGGS ON SAILING IN COLD WEATHER
As temperatures drop, Andy Rice gets tips on how to handle the cold from self-confessed Arctic weather fan and winning Clipper Round the World Race skipper Bob Beggs
SPECIAL REPORT EXTENDED CRUISING IN THE BALTIC
Sweden offers cruisers a warm welcome for winter - Janneke Kuysters has advice on how to boost your sailing time in the region
NIKKI HENDERSON
SEARCHING FOR MORE SPEED? BEFORE TINKERING WITH TINY ADJUSTMENTS, MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT THE BASICS RIGHT THE POWER DRIVING THE BOAT
MATTHEW SHEAHAN
WHAT WILL THE BOATS OF THE 38TH AMERICA'S CUP LOOK LIKE? THAT'S THE $20 MILLION QUESTION IF BRITAIN OR NEW ZEALAND DECIDE TO DEPART FROM THE AC75
60-knot squalls hit Middle Sea Race
The 45th running of the Mediterranean offshore, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, saw a spectacularly random mix of conditions - even for a race which is famed for its variable weather patterns.
Italy win first Women's Cup
The first ever Women's America's Cup was won by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli after a single, twoboat shoot-out final on 12 October.
'Three-peat' for ETNZ
As Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand came into this year's 37th America's Cup as clear favourites. But the Kiwi camp has far more than just the structural advantage of being the ones that wrote the Protocol for the competition, and the originators of the AC75 concept.
ROOM WITH A VIEW
SWEDISH DESIGNER GABRIEL HEYMAN POURED A LIFETIME OF IDEAS INTO THIS PILOT SALOON CRUISER, WHICH INCLUDES ARGUABLY THE LARGEST COCKPIT AVAILABLE AT THIS SIZE
LIVING HISTORY
THE ICONIC SEASON-CLOSING REGATTA LES VOILES DE SAINT TROPEZ WAS AN IMMERSIVE HISTORY LESSON FOR CROSBIE LORIMER
CHANGE OF PLAN
LEAVING AUSTRALIA, MARIANNE URTH NEVER PLANNED TO MAKE LANDFALL IN THE ISLANDS OF VANUATU, BUT THE EXPERIENCE WAS MAGICAL