At Sailing Fascination, we want each of our students to believe that their disability is only as limiting as their desires by providing free sailing lessons to students with all ranges of disabilities. Having a disability does not have to keep any person from enjoying time on the water aboard a sail boat!
Is to increase the quality of life and bring hope and joy into the lives of everyone who comes aboard with disabilities.
All types of physical disabilities.
PTSD and other Trauma
Developmental Disabilities
No sailing experience necessary!
Our non-profit foundation was built on the principle that having a disability does not have to keep any person from enjoying time on the water aboard a sail boat!
Manned by a crew of two 30-year sailing veterans, including the Captain who is handicapped himself, Sailing Fascination’s desire is to increase the quality of life and bring hope and joy into the lives of those with disabilities.
“I can teach anyone with a disability to sail. Don’t worry about a missing arm, an inability to stand or walk, or a lack of vision. In sailing, you only need the wind at your back and a spirit of the sea,” claims Tom Tolbert, President of Sailing Fascination.
At Sailing Fascination, we want each of our students to believe that their disability is only as limiting as their desires.
Since 1996, Sailing Fascination, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, has provided free sailing lessons to over 1000 students with a range of disabilities. Anyone with spinal-cord injuries, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, post-polio conditions, quadriplegia and other physical conditions, as well as anyone with developmental disabilities are welcome to come weekly for classes.
In 2013 Sailing Fascination expanded their reach to include war veterans struggling with the effects of PTSD. All our students need is an enthusiasm for learning and the desire for an increased quality of life.
With no prior experience needed, the Foundation teaches students everything from boat safety, sailing terminology and concepts, steering, tacking, running down-wind, crewing and perhaps most importantly, confidence-building.
“The idea is that students are experienced boat drivers by the time they leave us, the program is really about them spending time at the tiller, not just being a passenger.”
-Tom Tolbert, President of Sailing Fascination explains.
We have an incredible duo steering our ship!
In 1997, Tom assumed the position of President of Sailing Fascination shortly after being a student of the program himself. An avid sailor for over 30 years, as well as a bicyclist, tennis player, Hollywood stuntman and successful businessman, Tom’s wind was taken out of his sails in 1994. An aneurysm, the type of which only 10% survive, changed things.
Tom needed to relearn the most rudimentary physical tasks all over again, and to accept a lifestyle change from the way things used to be, but one that certainly would not keep him down. Now,
Tom walks with a cane, has a bit of slurred speech and has lost much of his right arm and leg mobility. Nevertheless, through sailing, he finds and gives inspiration about what life can hold for people with handicaps.Tom doesn’t make any money volunteering his time every week. Instead, he does it to empower those who have handicaps. According to Tom, “Probably 75% of our students have never been in charge of any apparatus. They still haven’t been in charge of a bicycle, car, anything. This is a first for them, and seeing one of them smile is a really big deal for all of us.”
Ron is no stranger to Newport Harbor. He has sailed in Newport Harbor most of his life, beginning in 1970 with a small sailboat and at Orange Coast College taking multiple sailboat training classes. In 1990 he acquiring a Catalina 30 sailboat, which he sailed for 20 years. Ron joined Oasis Sailing Club in 2015 and is now a skipper at the club. He began volunteering for Sailing Fascination 2017 as a skipper and is currently Vice President of Operations handling scheduling and training.
For many years there has been an informal relationship between Sailing Fascination and Oasis Sailing Club. Many members of Oasis Sailing Club are volunteer skippers for Sailing Fascination and Ron is a big part of what keeps that informal connection together.
Ron believes that teaching the disabled to sail, along with the experience and joys of the sea, are very rewarding to both student & skipper.
Sailing Fascination © 2015
