Mobility Cup 2000 was held at Point Claire Yacht Club (PCYC) founded in 1879 and located on Lac Saint-Louis with a long tradition of supporting sailing regattas. PCYC is the home base for Montreal’s Association Québécoise de Voile Adaptée (AQVA) chapter for sailors with disabilities.

Fifty sailors competed in 26 sail boats assembled from many regions of Canada and the United States. This was an international event with about a third of the competitors from outside of Canada.

MC-2000 strived to promote public awareness of the capabilities of people with severe disabilities where sailors with mobility impairments, including high level quadriplegics, could develop skills to sail independently and to race in an international class regatta. MC-2000 was also instrumental in developing some of the new Mobility Cup racing format and rules still in use to-day.

Location

Yacht Club de Pointe-Claire,
Montreal, Quebec

Hosts

Association Québécoise de Voile Adaptée
Yacht Club de Pointe-Claire

Dates

June 11 – 16, 2000

Personnel

Regatta Chairman, Jake Fichten
Race Committee Chair, Dave Brown

Legacy

The first fully bilingual MC event and the first to use the new racing format for Gold and Silver fleets

Trophy winners

Mobility Cup | John McRoberts, Victoria, BC

Coupe Dallaire | Joe Guay, Newport, RI

Sam Sullivan Trophy | Chris Loscerbo, Chemainus, BC

Mobility Cup grew again, involving 61 sailors – each handling a Martin 16 – sailing in Toronto, ON

Only the ninth ever event, it featured an adaptive sailing symposium, followed by one day’s on-the-water practice and then four day’s racing. The International Disabled Sailing Symposium, led by the Canadian Yachting Association, considered all aspects of developing sailing opportunities for people with disabilities.

Billed as “the largest and most international fleet assembled to date,” it featured competitors from Canada, USA, Bermuda, Australia and Portugal.

Location

National Yacht Club,
Toronto, Ontario

Hosts

Disabled Sailing Association of Ontario
National Yacht Club

Dates

Sept. 12 – 17, 1999

Personnel

Regatta Chairman, Danny McCoy
Event Coordinator, Angie Farquhar

Legacy

Formation of Disabled Sailing Association of Ontario

Trophy winners

Mobility Cup | Danny McCoy, Toronto, ON

Coupe Dallaire | Brenda Poole, Toronto, ON

Sam Sullivan Trophy | Chris Loscerbo, Chemainus, BC

Mobility Cup returned to its birthplace, Vancouver, BC, for the 1998 event. This was the most international regatta to date, with 30 competitors from Australia, Puerto Rico, Portugal, the US and, of course, Canada.

It featured seminars for competitors inspired to go home and start their own programs, held in “the Mobility Cup tent” throughout the event.

The 1998 event is memorable for featuring the first ever all Martin 16 fleet.

Location

Jericho Sailing Centre,
Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hosts

Disabled Sailing Association
Jericho Sailing Centre

Dates

Aug. 7 – 22, 1998

Personnel

Regatta Chairs, Kathy Campbell & Penny Paris
Race Committee Chair, Trevor Murrie

Legacy

The Mobility Cup is now truly international; many competitors are inspired to go home and create their own adaptive sailing clubs

Trophy winners

Mobility Cup | Danny McCoy, Toronto, ON

Coupe Dallaire | Merle Hickey, Calgary, AB

Sam Sullivan Trophy | Rene Dallaire, Montreal, QC

Mobility Cup was held outside British Columbia for the first time in 1997, being hosted by Disabled Sailing Association of Alberta and Glenmore Sailing Club. DSA Alberta had been formed in 1994, inspired by the British Columbia programs, so hosting the national regatta gave the club a considerable boost.

Organizers stated that there were at that time “more than 30,000 adults and children with mobility impairments in Calgary, any of whom may benefit from accessibility to sailing as a recreational and therapeutic experience.” The event included a practice day followed by five days’ racing for 28 competitors, using both the Sunbird and Martin 16 adaptive sailboats.

The event is memorable as Mobility Cup 1997 was approved by the Canadian Yachting Association as Canada’s Qualifying Regatta for the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) Single-Handed Class to compete at the IFDS North/South American Regional Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida, in October, 1997.

Location

Glenmore Sailing Club,
Calgary, Alberta

Hosts

Disabled Sailing Association of Alberta
Glenmore Sailing Club

Dates

Aug. 24 – 29, 1997

Personnel

Regatta Chairman, Ron Pawlyk
Race Committee Chair, Bill Purves-Smith

Legacy

First event held outside of British Columbia; growth of DSA Alberta

Trophy winners

Mobility Cup | Danny McCoy, Toronto, ON

Silver Fleet winner| Dale Keith, Calgary, AB

Top sip 'n' puff sailor | Rene Dallaire, Montreal, QC

Touted as the “biggest and best ever” Mobility Cup, the event returned to Vancouver – having been held in Victoria, BC the previous year.

Mobility Cup 1996 was held at Royal Vancouver Yacht Club during the last week of July, and featured a one-day race clinic followed by four days of races. The event was sandwiched between weekend heats of the WAVES regatta, an international one-design event – competitors from the WAVES and Mobility Cup events socialized, raising awareness of sailors with disabilities.

This year’s event is memorable for featuring the debut of the Martin 16 sloop.

Location

Royal Vancouver Yacht Club,
Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hosts

Disabled Sailing Association
Royal Vancouver Yacht Club

Dates

July. 23 – 28, 1996

Personnel

Regatta Chair, Kathy Campbell
Race Committee Chair, Trevor Murrie

Legacy

Racing debut of the Martin 16 sloop

Trophy winners

Gold Fleet winner | Brent Foote, Delta, BC

Top sip 'n' puff sailor| Rene Dallaire, Montreal, QC

Mobility Cup was held outside Vancouver for the first time in 1995 – even though host city Victoria is only 69 km (43 miles) away. Nevertheless, fledgling sailing clubs across the country learned that event founder Sam Sullivan was interested in seeing the event held in other provinces, in order to promote sailing for people with disabilities on a national basis.

This year also saw a key behind-the-scenes decision – to commission a high speed, maneuverable sailboat especially designed for people with disabilities. When Vancouver’s Don Martin designed the Martin 16 in 1995, he included power-assisted controls. Mark Isaak of M.I.D.S. was called in to create a versatile (mouth-operated) sip ‘n’ puff control system for the Martin 16. In 1998 he worked with  Steve Alvey, of Disabled Sailing Association Alberta, to design the portable, modular system that is in used today.

Location

The Canadian Forces Sailing Association ,
Esquimalt Squadron, British Columbia.

Hosts

DSA Victoria
CFSA Esquimalt Squadron

Dates

Aug. 16 – 20, 1995

Personnel

Regatta Chairmen, Doug Nutting & Bill Macdonald
Race Committee Chair, Barry Bladen

Legacy

First ever Mobility Cup held outside of Vancouver, BC

Trophy winners

Gold Fleet winner | Ken Bartell, Surrey, BC

Silver Fleet winner| Sonja Sutmoller Snijders, Victoria, BC

Top sip 'n' puff sailor | Rene Dallaire, Montreal, QC

The 1994 event involved 28 sailors with disabilities from across Canada and the US, who collectively sailed 135 times to compete for the Mobility Cup trophy.

Held at the Jericho Sailing Centre, Vancouver, the event included two (mouth operated) sip ‘n’ puff sailboats, operated by Larry Boden of Vancouver and Rene Dallaire of Montreal. The system, which enables high level tetraplegics to sail, debuted in 1993’s event.

The 1994 Mobility Cup also included a demonstration by blind sailor Bruce Gilmour.

Location

Jericho Sailing Centre ,
Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hosts

Disabled Sailing Association
Jericho Sailing Centre

Dates

Aug. 24 – 28, 1994

Personnel

Regatta Coordinator, Vaughan Wallace,
Race Committee Coordinator, Trevor Murrie

Legacy

Introduction of sip 'n' puff sailing for high level quadriplegics

Trophy winners

Gold Fleet winner | Brent Foote, Delta, BC

Silver Fleet winner| Roy Crawford, Victoria, BC

The four-day event held at Jericho Sailing Centre, Vancouver, saw racing by 28 competitors from across Canada and the US – with local Vancouver sailors in a minority.

The event is remembered for a world first – if featuring a (mouth operated) sip ‘n’ puff sailboat, which enabled high level tetraplegics to sail. This was the culmination of a two-year high-tech project to “include people with severe disabilities as active participants in our sailing program.” It was put through its paces that year by Larry Boden of Vancouver.

Location

Jericho Sailing Centre,
Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hosts

Disabled Sailing Association
Canadian Yachting Association

Dates

Aug. 25 – 29, 1993

Personnel

Regatta Chair, Lori Beaulieu
Race Committee Chairman, Trevor Murrie

Legacy

Continued development of the sport of adaptive sailing

Trophy winners

Gold Fleet winner | Dave Schroeder, Miami, FL

Silver Fleet winner| Charles Rosenfield, East Woodstock, CT

Top sip 'n puff sailor | Larry Boden, Vancouver, BC

Building on the momentum of the inaugural Mobility Cup, 1992 saw the event become national. Once again it was held in Vancouver, BC . The difference was that the previous year it had been a local Vancouver event that just happened to attract out-of-town sailors; this year it grew in size and scope and was on its way to becoming a Canadian event.

The main focus was on inspiring adaptive sailing programs elsewhere across Canada.

“I see the Mobility Cup more for its importance in helping develop new adaptive sailing programs and furthering existing ones,” continues Sam. “Many people see it just as a high quality race, but for me, that is not the essence of the Mobility Cup, although it is a high quality, competitive event.”

Location

Jericho Sailing Centre ,
Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hosts

Disabled Sailing Association
Jericho Sailing Centre

Dates

August 19 -23, 1992

Personnel

Regatta Chairman, Trevor Murrie
Mobility Cup Coordinator, Lori Beaulieu

Legacy

Becoming a national event

Trophy winners

Winner | Brent Foote, Delta, BC

In 1991, Sam Sullivan, tetraplegic founder of the Disabled Sailing Association of BC, envisioned a sailing regatta to promote public awareness of the capacities of people with disabilities. This was held in Vancouver, BC, home of the DSA-BC. The event was held on the sheltered waters of English Bay.

“It was important to have people come together and celebrate their achievements, and to do that in the form of a race,” said Sam.

Following the success of the regatta, organizers realized they had a potential national event on their hands.

Location

Jericho Sailing Centre,
Vancouver, British Columbia

Hosts

Disabled Sailing Association
Jericho Sailing Centre

Dates

Aug 14 - 18, 1991

Personnel

Regatta Chair, Kathy Campbell
Race Committee Chairman, Trevor Murie

Legacy

Development of the sport of adaptive sailing.

Trophy winners

Winner | Ken Nore, Surrey, BC