Able To Help

Peter Jacops, founder of Disabled Sailing Thailand, initiated the self-build S\V14 designed by Simonis Voogd, which has signed a landmark agreement with China’s FarEast Yachts that has created production-scale possibilities.

- Duncan Worthington

WHEN PEOPLE TALK OF having that eureka moment, they often refer to it as being like a bolt of lightning or a light switching on in their head. For Thailand-based Marine Surveyor Peter Jacops, the “moment” was a little different. It was less of a sudden bright idea or an instance of brilliance but more like a moment of disappointment, almost anger.

A lifelong sailor, Jacops had worked with disabled people in South Africa, so was annoyed when the International Paralympic Committee announced in early 2015 that sailing would not be included in the 2020 Paralympics, due to not fulfilling the “minimum criteria for worldwide reach”.

However, it also prompted an opportunity to bring together two parts of his life and create something new. Jacops started by looking into disabled sailing opportunities in Thailand, his adopted home, and couldn’t find any.

“I looked around sailing destinations in Asia and realised that Thailand was the only country in the region that did not have a disabled sailing programme,” said Jacops, who founded Disabled Sailing Thailand, registering it as an official yacht club under the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand.

“Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines all have programmes in place, so I felt it was time that the mecca of sailing in Southeast Asia had its own programme.”

Jacops’ first goal was to open up sailing to disabled people, to give them the opportunity to get out on the water and enjoy it, something few had done before.

In January 2016, with support from Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, Jacops and a number of like-minded volunteers and boat owners took more than 80 disabled people out sailing. All the guests were passengers that day, but the occasion proved a turning point.