Wynyard Yacht Club’s Chris Symonds is the Australian Champion in the Hansa 303 class, and he doubled down on that victory by finishing on top of the podium at Sail Melbourne 2022. 

Symonds has joined Australian Sailing and Sail Melbourne to support World Sailing’s #BackTheBid Campaign, which calls for Paralympic sailing to be reinstated for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games. “Sailing is a special sport because once you are on the water, disabilities are set aside,” Symonds explained. 

Symonds hasn’t had the opportunity to sail at the Paralympics since he started sailing the Hansa 303 after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 

“Despite my motor neuron condition, I can still compete with able bodied people since the skills are the same”. The proof is in the results, with Symonds winning all three of today’s races. 

As Vice Chair of the Para World Sailing Committee, David Staley has been a key driver in lobbying for the re-introduction of sailing on the Paralympic slate.  

“There is huge aspirational value in the inclusion of sailing at the Paralympic Games,” Staley shared. 

“Exclusion of sailing from the Paralympic Games has meant that the sailors’ able-bodied counterparts can aspire to the Olympics as the pinnacle event within the sport of sailing, whereas those with a disability have had this taken away from them.”