Uniquetall ship in Durban for final South African stopover in ground breaking globalvoyage with disabled and able-bodied crew
The Lord Nelson, a unique tall ship, sailed by disabled and able bodiedcrew on a ground breaking voyage around the world, is currently on a six-daystopover in Durban ahead of the next leg of her circumnavigation. The 55-metresquare rigger is taking part in the Norton Rose Sail the World Challenge, a50,000-mile journey designed to promote equality and inclusion in every port ofcall.
The voyage is organised by UK charity,the Jubilee Sailing Trust, and is supported by international legal practiceNorton Rose, which has five of its 42 offices in Africa, including Durban. Theship has been designed and built to allow disabled and able bodied crew to sailalongside each other as equals.
Arriving in Durban, Captain ChrisPhillips explained that they had had some lively conditions to contend withduring the latest stage of their voyage from Cape Town, around the Cape of GoodHope, to Durban.
"Wehad some excellent sailing in fairly atypical conditions, which was bothsatisfying and exhilarating," he said. "The winds were fair for a large proportionof the time, which in itself was unexpected. We had a couple of days of flatcalm, as well as a couple of days of gale conditions. The fair winds were aboon as we had to fight adverse currents the entire way."
Asthey made their final approach to Durban, captain and crew decided to takeadvantage of the conditions offered by the lively north-easterly breeze.
"Wemotored to the north so we could have a final sail before arrival in Durban. Wesailed offshore and then back towards Durban, but experienced conditions beyondwhat the forecast had led me to expect, with winds gusting over 45 knots, whichmade for an exhilarating night's sailing," describes Captain Phillips.
TheLord Nelson sustained some saildamage in the strong winds and her planned 1100 local time arrival was furtherdelayed by commercial traffic in the busy container port, and she finallyberthed at Durban’s O Shed at 1530.
Oneof the South Africans on board for the voyage from Cape Town to Durban was52-year-old Mandy Latimore from Johannesburg, who is a wheelchair userfollowing a climbing accident, which resulted in paraplegia.
Asa self-confessed adrenaline junkie Mandy is no stranger to adventure and shesaid she was "exhausted but exhilarated" after the challenging voyage toKwa-Zulu Natal.
"Ihad the best four hours of my life on a 0400-0800 watch during the voyage. Wewere in a Force 9 gale with five-metre swells, doing 11.5 knots and we even hada great white shark sighting. What more could a gal ask for? We had fantasticcrew and great new friendships were forged over 12 action-packed days sailingalong my beloved country’s coastline, but it was great to see it from the otherside for a change," said Mandy, who works as an independentconsultant within the disability sector.
One Durbanite joining the Lord Nelson crew on Thursday isThokozani Mthoko Deajay Latha, a graduate of the Durban-based Sail Africa youthdevelopment programme. Deajay will be a member of the voyage crew for the nextleg of her journey to Kochi, India, along with Wandisile "Wadi" Xayimpi, who will represent Cape Towncharity, Izivunguvungu.Along with the rest of the crew, Deejay and Wadi will be undertaking pre-voyagetraining on Friday.
The Jubilee Sailing Trust has invitedthe two young South African sailors to take part in a leg of thecircumnavigation in order to support the development work of the two charities,which use sailing to help youngsters to develop their confidence andself-esteem to broaden their horizons.
Wadi said, "I think sailing the boat will be a challenge in itselfas I have never sailed on a tall ship before and there is a lot more rigging towhat I am used to. Being away from my family and friends will be one of my ownpersonal challenges."
The 24-year-old, whose ambition isto become a professional sailor or soccer player, continued, "Both a bowman[crew member who works at the front of the boat, often an exhilarating andexciting role] and a soccer player rely on their teams to win their race orgame. This trip will help me work with a new unfamiliar team, helping andlearning from each other."
The Lord Nelson will remain berthed at O Shed, next to the N Shedpassenger terminal for the duration of the stopover in KwaZulu-Natal, until shesets sail for Kochi at 2pm on Sunday 3 March.
The ship embarked on her 23-monthvoyage from Southampton in the UK on Sunday 21 October, riding the wave ofsuccess enjoyed by the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and arrived in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil, on 9 December, before setting sail again for a secondtransatlantic crossing, this time to Cape Town, and a first-ever visit to SouthAfrica, arriving on 2 February.
During the almost two-year voyage, theLord Nelson will make four Equatorcrossings, log 50,000 nautical miles and visit 30 countries on sevencontinents. The journey is unique due to the people who make up the voyagecrew: all of them have stepped out of their everyday lives to participate, allof them refusing to be limited by disability or self-imposed comfort zones tobecome part of a round the world crew.
Norton Rose, which has an office inDurban, is supporting this unique global voyage under their banner of "Allabilities. All aboard." The international legal practice supports the JubileeSailing Trust’s values of diversity, inclusion and integration.
JohnnyCaldow, Norton Rose's Durban office head, said: "We have followed withinterest the activities that took place in Cape Town and have been lookingforward to welcoming the Lord Nelson to Durban. As well as hostingsome traditional South African activities for the crew, we have invited clientsand staff to attend an event on Friday, to hear a first-hand account ofsailing on board Lord Nelson. David Kapelus, a director from our Johannesburgoffice, is a quadriplegic and participated in the seven-daysail in Cape Town. David will talk about his experience and challengeperceptions towards disability, an ethos at the very heart of both theJubilee Sailing Trust and the Norton Rose Sail the World Challenge. OnSunday, we will bid Lord Nelson and her crew a fitting SouthAfrican farewell from our shores."
LordNelson was built bythe Jubilee Sailing Trust in the UK and first set sail in 1986. The bespokefeatures on board allow a disabled sailor to contribute to the voyage just asmuch as an able-bodied crew member and their interdependence creates acommunity aboard the ship for the duration of the voyage – a bond which remainslong after those who sail on her are back on dry land.
Berths are still available to sail onboard Lord Nelson during the NortonRose Sail the World Challenge. No experience is required and a wide range ofphysical disabilities can be accommodated. Among the bespoke features of theship are hearing loops, wheelchair lifts, integrated Braille instructions andspeaking compasses. For more information visit www.jst.org.uk or email info@jst.org.uk.
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Notesto editors
Pre-departuremedia conference scheduled for 1500 HRS on Fri 1 March at the Point Yacht Club,3 Maritime Place, Victoria Embankment. Parking available.
For media information contact:
Anna Wardley, media & public relations, JubileeSailing Trust
UK cell phone (until 27February): +44 (0)7793 417754
SA mobile number (inDurban from 28 Feb – 3 March): +27 (0)74 6866045
Email: anna.wardley@seagrasscommunications.com
Candice Collins, communications specialist, Norton RoseSouth Africa
(incorporatedas Deneys Reitz Inc)
Tel:+27 (0)11 685 8630
Email: Candice.Collins@nortonrose.com
TheNorton Rose Sail the World Challenge
During her inaugural 23-monthcircumnavigation of the world, the 55-metre square rigger, Lord Nelson, will log four Equator crossings and visit 30 countrieson seven continents. More than 1,000 people will have the opportunity to sailon the vessel during this 50,000-mile voyage. It is the first time that anaccessible square-rigged sailing ship has undertaken such a journey crewed bydisabled sailors alongside their able-bodied peers.
www.jst.org.uk/sail-the-world.aspx
TheNorton Rose Sail the World Challenge route: Southampton (UK), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Cape Town(South Africa), Durban (South Africa), Kochi (India), Singapore, Fremantle(Australia), Melbourne (Australia), Hobart (Australia), Sydney (Australia),Auckland (New Zealand), Wellington (New Zealand), Nelson (New Zealand),Auckland (New Zealand), Ushuaia (Argentina), Antarctica, Buenos Aires(Argentina), Recife (Brazil), Halifax (Canada), Southampton (UK).
Lord Nelson
The Jubilee Sailing Trust’s tall ship,Lord Nelson, was designed to enablephysically disabled people, including wheelchair users, to sail alongside theirnon-disabled peers as equals. Lord Nelsonwas built in the UK and first set sail in 1986. Since then she has beenchanging the lives of everybody who sails on her.
JubileeSailing Trust
The Jubilee Sailing Trust was foundedin 1978 and was the brainchild of Christopher Rudd, a teacher and sailor whowanted to give his disabled pupils the same opportunities as able-bodiedchildren. Starting with two non-adapted vessels, the charity grew and Lord Nelson, a custom built ship whichcan be sailed by a crew of 40, was commissioned. Since her maiden voyage in1986, more than 10,000 people with a physical disability, including almost4,000 wheelchair users, have sailed aboard LordNelson.
The Jubilee Sailing Trust also ownsand operates a second tall ship, Tenacious. She is currently operating voyages in Europe.
www.jst.org.uk
NortonRose
NortonRose is a leading international legal practice offering a full business lawservice to many of the world’s pre-eminent financial institutions andcorporations from offices in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, Africa, theMiddle East, Latin America and Central Asia. Knowing how their clients’businesses work and understanding what drives their industries is fundamentalto Norton Rose.
NortonRose lawyers share industry knowledge and sector expertise across borders,enabling them to support their clients anywhere in the world. They are strongin financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities;transport; technology and innovation; and pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
NortonRose has more than 2,900 lawyers operating from offices in Abu Dhabi, Almaty,Amsterdam, Athens, Bahrain, Bangkok, Beijing, Bogotá, Brisbane, Brussels,Calgary, Canberra, Cape Town, Caracas, Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Dubai,Durban, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, Milan,Montréal, Moscow, Munich, Ottawa, Paris, Perth, Piraeus, Prague, Québec, Rome,Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Warsaw; and its associate officein Jakarta.
From1 June, 2013 Norton Rose will join forces with leading U.S. law firm Fulbright& Jaworski L.L.P. to create Norton Rose Fulbright. They will also haveoffices in Austin, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York,Pittsburgh-Southpointe, Riyadh, San Antonio, St Louis and Washington, D.C. With3,800 lawyers, Norton Rose Fulbright will be one of the largest global legalpractices, with significant depth of expertise in the world’s leading businessand financial centres.
NortonRose is the business name for the international legal practice that comprisesNorton Rose LLP, Norton Rose Australia, Norton Rose Canada LLP and Norton RoseSouth Africa (incorporated as Deneys Reitz Inc) and their respectiveaffiliates. www.nortonrose.com