About the Holland 25

The Holland 25 is the development of 'Eygthene' - 1973 1/4 ton World Champion, 1973 and 74 U.S. Mid-winter champion, and 1975 North American Champion. She was a thoroughbred racing yacht with spacious accommodation.

Hull: Hand laid fibreglass construction guided by Lloyds specifications using highest quality cloths and resins with colour-fast gelcoats. One piece moulding ensures homogenous construction with composite lay-up of 'chopped strand matt' strengthened with woven rovings, double overlapped along the keel. Scribed waterlines are moulded in and the internal reinforced gunwhale flange allows exceptional strength on the deck joint. Rebated skeg mounting for flush fitting. Keel area stiffening by specially laminated 3/4" plywood transfers keel loadings to the bilge areas. Main bulkhead of 1/2" Maple marine plywood is the main structural member bonded to the skin and integral to the keel reinforcement.

Deck: One piece moulding with adequate reinforcement and moulded non-skid areas. Large hatchway, big self-draining cockpit and wide 2'3" sidedecks prove most functional as does the high camber, giving safe flat decks when heeled.

Keel: The high-lift hydrodynamically designed lead keel weighs 1650lb (750kg) and has six keelbolts moulded in.

Rudder: Heavy GRP laminate specially shaped to the designer's specifications to aid lateral resistance and give maximum directional control without stalling. The 1 and 1/4" diametre stainless steel stock with welded lugs has rigid and reliable construction for complete safety.

Interior: Forward moulding of V-berths, toilet mounting, anchor stowage in the floor, and starboard hanging space adds appreciably to the hull stiffness in the bow sections. Starboard side moulding comprises galley unit with sink, insulated ice box, stove recess (with cupboard under) and provision for plate racks behind. Adjoining is a long settee quarter-berth. Port side moulding comprises a full length settee berth and quarter berth plus forward saloon seat. All berths have recessed hatches for access to large stowage areas.

MYSTIQUE Arrives

On 25 October our preloved yacht was towed up from Queenscliff to RYCV, Williamstown. "Mystique" is a Holland 25 with a broad beam to give it stability and interior room. Built by Doug Sharpin around 1980, its vital statistics are:
Length: 25' (7.62m)
LWL: 20'3" (6.17m)
Beam: 10' (3.04m)
Draft: 5' (1.52m)
Displacement: 3500lb (1590kg)
Ballast: 1650lb (750kg)

OK, so it is not the best hull to modify in theory, but in practice it is the best our budget would allow for and as we plan to quite savagely modify the deck it would be a pity to chop up a more expensive hull. If we need to drill holes to test an idea - holes will be drilled and filled as needed till we develop new modifications. When the jig-saw attacks the deck, we will not hesitate to be 'cruel to be kind' and achieve our aims of suiting a seated sailor. A lot of planning will go into changes but it is a development platform first and foremost.

It is missing its mast and has minor damage to the safety posts from when it was dismasted but apart from looking its age at 27 years old, it should be a good basis to test our design concepts of creatiing a yacht suitable for wheelchair users to sail.

On 26 October, after a pressure wash of the deck the hull was lifted from the water and also given a wash to show an attractive, beamy but "soup bowl" shape hull in quite reasonable condition with no major problems visible at this stage. With about a lot of grime removed from the deck and hull, it looked a lot more presentable and the list started, regarding what needs to be done functionally and aesthetically.

Inside is old but with "potential" as the timber work has had a bit too much sun and years without being looked after as well as itcould have been. However, of all the Hollands we have seen, including a lot on the web, the original timber work was very well done with well trimmed oval door through the bulkhead, and well built timber cupboards. Time and a fair bit of work by Moira, my wife and business partner, and tradespeople will change the interior and Moira's tallents as an interior designer will bring it up 'ship shape'.

We are very excited about our new project and plans for our yacht sailing on Port Phillip Bay. With a new mast, possibly more lead on the keel, we will develop plans for many further changes once we determine how she sails and motors.

Long term aims

After this initial project is developed and tested, funding may be sought in the future to develop a larger and more sophisticated vessel. However, without a pilot project, with a majority of funding coming from an interested individual, such a project would not be possible to contemplate.
There are great possibilities for publicity generation through the local and national media of a project with such a positive visual potential – such as taking disabled children who have been in the news out for a sail, or being involved with the “Make A Wish Foundation”. Such publicity of this pilot project could lead to greater funding generation oportunities to allow development of the next generation of yachts.

If this purely volunteer project is the success that overseas commercial operators have achieved, then some commercial operators may make similar accessible craft for sale, charter or rent, and hence make access to sailing in such expensive craft (a commercial craft would cost over $200,000 to build to a standard required for rental or charter due to strict regulations) possible.

How will this need be addressed?

We are looking at creating a rear roll-on wheelchair accessible yacht (after considerable modification to give wheelchair skipper position on starboard side with possibly hydraulic steering and an electric lift or lowering mechanism into the cabin and toilet). This will be suitable for Bay sailing and we are searching for a 25’ to 30’ yacht with plenty of beam (over 3m) with a decent amount of keel weight to give a very stable, moderate performance, safe yacht. This type of yacht is available in Italy and Greece, but not to our knowledge in Australia.

See optimal Italian solution at http://www.velaetica.it/caratteristiche.html . Note: These are commercial hire boats that are owned by a sailing school who, incidentally, ran the 2005 Liberty Single Person World Championships (where Colin came second).

The yacht would be stored at Royal Yacht Club of Victoria (RYCV) 120 Nelson Place, Williamstown. The club is fully wheelchair accessible, with adequate parking, two disabled toilets and wheelchair accessible pontoons already. Other uses would extend to other clubs by sailing or motoring to other clubs around the bay.

Price is an issue as modifications will be expensive and the budget is limited but the better quality boat that can be found to start off with, the less will need to spend in money and time to get to safe general sailing state. Budget is ~ $20,000 at most for the base yacht before modifications. Modifications of cutting and opening up the rear deck space to provide wheelchair access from the rear with space (including required tie down points for safety) for wheelchair seating, designing and building a tilting skipper’s chair, and then some sot of internal lift to provide access to the enclosed cabin and toilet. All these additions will cost al least another $15,000.

We (Colin and Moira) are willing to cover the initial purchase of the basic yacht, but assistance will be needed to carry out the extensive modifications to make the yacht an example of what could be achieved in other club or other private yachts to accommodate wheelchair users.

The aim is to create a yacht where not only can physically and other disabled people be taken sailing safely but, those capable, can actively participate in sailing the yacht from adjusting sail trim to navigating and steering the yacht. This could be a valuable experience in participation in an exciting activity that enables team participation in a sport that is currently unavailable at this level.

Project Overview

Currently there is not roll-on wheelchair accessible yacht for taking people in wheelchairs out sailing in Australia. This project is to develop a suitable moderate sized yacht (25’ to 30’ long) with excellent stability to enable:

• Taking people, who use wheelchairs, for a safe and comfortable sail on the bay (in mild weather), including those who require their own special support seating of their own chairs, who could not sit on a normal yacht deck without customised lateral and back supports.
• Providing a next level of yacht for existing disabled sailors, like myself, to progress from the current range of Sailability yacht dinghies (ranging from 2.3m to 3.6m long) extensively used for disabled sailing – see Sailability website http://www.sailability.org . By having a larger yacht, with onboard sleeping and toilet facilities, many of these sailors could experience overnight sails on Port Phillip Bay.
• With experience, disabled sailors should be able to participate, in such a yacht, in normal club racing in open waters, around the Bay. If this team can be assembled from Western suburb sailors (most likely) then a major landmark will be achieved.

As the Project Managers, I (Colin Johanson), and wife Moira would be a major providers of our own personal funds towards the project along with Moira's interior design skills and utilising Colin's technical skills as a qualified Ergonomist (Human Factors Engineer) as I have previously developed a range of disabled equipment including: wheelchairs for marathons (one of these was the first to beat the runners in the Melbourne Big M marathon in 1980), snow and water skis for snow and water (the snow ski design I negotiated a sale to an American manufacturer on behalf of the original designer and builder, at no profit to myself). I also have extensive design skills and utilises computer aided design software. I was also awarded “2006 Viewer’s Choice Winner” on the New Inventors TV program for my novel electric wheelchair design that we are currently trying to commecialise.

I am a wheelchair using sailor who has been Australian champion twice in the 3.6m Liberty (3.6m Access Dinghy single hander), 2nd (in Italy) and 4th (in Australia) in the Worlds, finalist for Victorian Disabled Sailor twice; and finalist for Australian Disabled Sailor of the Year once. Also “Chairman of the IFDS Technical Committee” (who along with the International Paralympic Committe, control World and Paralympic sailing competitions and rules), Vice President and Public Officer of the Access Class Association for Measurement and Racing and a member of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria (in Williamstown, where we also live, and where the yacht would be based). I also had training by Yachting Victoria to teach the Disability Awareness program to yachting Coaches, Clubs, and Race Officers as part of their courses. I am also part way through a Coaching for Yachting qualification and was president and major contact for Dockland Sailability for over four years, along with a previous Committee member of Sailability Victoria. I am currently trying to establish a Sailability arm of RYCV. Note: All of these are volunteer roles with no payment of even expenses.

Yachting is an excellent sport for integration of people with a disability into mainstream sports – it only requires suitable equipment. This has been shown by Sailability programs where, as an example of both its success and integration, at State and National competitions over 100 -200 sailors participate and include about 70% disabled sailors, >40% female competitors, all sailing together in classes based purely on sailing disability. This is a major achievement of integration of disabled and female sailors into what was previously deemed a male dominated sport. Sailing in the Paralympics is a large event with now three classes (one of the few Paralympic sports to have increased classes for China, most have been decreased) and Australia is a powerful country in sailing with many medals in Paralympic and World Championships.

Sydney and Perth have a couple of 24’ Sonar yachts that are used for Paralympic sailing training, but Victoria has none and these are only day-sailing, sports yachts, with out on-board accommodation. We want to create another level of sailing in Victoria and show it is viable and possible to the rest of Australia.