Sailability Auckland

Fundraiser: America’s Cup and Round-the-World Legends
ONLY FOUR SLEEPS TO GO

Erle Williams started his sailing career in Flying Ants, before moving to 18ft skiffs. At the age of just 22 he sailed his first Whitbread “Round the World” Race as a watch captain aboard the Dutch yacht Flyer II in 1981-82, with Joey Allen and Grant Dalton. Erle got his first taste of the America’s Cup as a bowman aboard KZ7 in the 1986-87 Louis Vuitton Cup. Since then, he has done four more adventures around the world, including helming the Volvo 70 Pirates of the Caribbean at 40kts; an outrageous velocity in the time before foils. Erle has the distinction of sailing four generations of America's Cup classes: not only did he sail the 12 Metres, the International America’s Cup Class, and through to the foiling AC45 catamaran… he’s also gone back in time to sail the restored J-Class Ranger from the 1930s.

After Flying Ants and Flyer II, Joey Allen sailed with Chris Dickson to 2nd place in the 470 World Championships in 1984. He crewed on boats that won match racing world championships in 1988 and 1990. He then sailed around the world again on Yamaha in the 1993-94 Whitbread. Joey then joined Team New Zealand as a sailor, to help win the America’s Cup in 1995 and defend it in 2000. In 2003 he became a coach for Team New Zealand and continued to coach America’s Cup teams for the next decade.

They should have some good stories! Come and hear them at the Panmure Yacht and Boating Club on Friday 29th May 2026 from 6pm to 10pm. $10 cover charge.

Own a piece of America’s Cup history and epic design…

In 2017, Emirates Team New Zealand commissioned legendary motorbike helmet and livery designer Aldo Drudi to create custom designs for their Dianese high-performance racing helmets for the 35th America's Cup in Bermuda.

Each sailor received a bespoke helmet, with their number and nickname printed in the design.

While Grant Dalton was not a member of the race-day sailing team for the 2017 America’s Cup, he did get a helmet. And now you can own Grant Dalton’s personal Drudi Performance design Dianese helmet, customised with number 60 and nickname “Dalts”.

We’re going to auction this helmet as part of a fundraiser being held by Panmure Yacht and Boating Club on Friday 29th May 2026 from 6pm to 10pm. Come along and hear America’s Cup and Round-the-World Race legends Erle Williams and Joey Allen talk. $10 cover charge. If you want to bid on the helmet, but can’t make it to the Panmure Yacht and Boating Club, message us or get in touch with us at [email protected] to put in a bid.

Thank-you to Emirates Team New Zealand for donating this unique piece of sailing and design history. And thanks to Panmure Yacht and Boating Club for putting on an event for us.

America's Cup and Ocean Racing Legends speaking at Panmure Yacht & Boating Club to raise funds for us!!

SKUD 18 Crew needed. We have lots of sailors wanting to go SKUD sailing but we don't have enough Crew! Can you help us find more Crew? We are looking for people with some previous sailing experience that are available on Sunday's. You can come every Sunday or once a month just whatever suits you. The boats are sailed with a mixed team, one with a disability and one without. We can guarantee you will have lots of fun and plenty of laughs! Please contact us if you can help out.

Will you be the wind in our sails?

We need to raise $15,000 to get us through to summer. For 35 years Sailability Auckland has been providing sailing opportunities for people with disabilities. We would like to share with you the recent experience of a family that came sailing with us.

“My daughter has ADHD and my son has ASD and DCD. My son is nervous to try new things. It took a lesson or two watching his sister before he decided to give it a go. The team were fantastic. Warm, welcoming, encouraging, great sense of humour. My daughter is always up for new challenges, and she took to sailing like a duck takes to water.

As a parent sitting on the sidelines I got to meet and chat with a myriad of other families managing disabilities too. It was lovely to feel understood in a life that can often feel really isolating.

The kids got to meet and socialise with others too and the new skills they learnt were so great for building confidence in themselves. Sailability’s very low cost makes this entirely accessible too.”

Please help us give more people with disabilities the opportunity to sail and fulfil their potential. If you can, please donate to help here. https://givealittle.co.nz/org/sailability-auckland

Just one last thing…. It would mean the world to us if you can share this post.

Brought to you by the Legends at MarineVerse and a few other Legends!

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From a "few races" to a Paralympic movement. ⛵️🔥
It started small: just getting some Sailability crew together for a couple of races. Then Paul Wager dropped a Big Hairy Audacious Goal: .

Paul called on the Sailability Auckland team, mentioned putting a "little" regatta together, and the Dream Team was born. When you get the combined force of Paul Wager, Tim Dempsey and Paul Webber together, big things happen.
They brought in the talent of Finn Drummond, Parizad Dantra, and Rueben Dempsey to round out a powerhouse crew.
A huge shout-out to the engine room that made it all run smoothly.

A massive thank you to the family members who stepped up—Laurie and Tracy Wager, Pauline Menown, and Cath Costello. Because of your hard work, we didn't just pull off a regatta; we proved that integrated sailing isn’t just achievable—it’s world-class.

The boat, the wind, and the ocean are the ultimate equalizers. On the water, there is no "able-bodied" or "disabled"—there is only the crew.

The best team won, and the standard of racing was undeniable.

To the International Paralympic Committee (): take note. Our Paralympic dream doesn’t seem that far away anymore. We have the skill, the passion, and the community to make it happen.
Let’s bring paralympics to Brisbane 2032. 🇦🇺💪

🆘 Broken Boats & Family Lifelines!
They say that when things go wrong, you turn to family and friends. In the sailing world, that’s not just a saying—it’s our survival strategy!

In the lead-up to the Burnsco 2026 SKUD 18 International Match Race Challenge, we hit a major snag: our Committee Boat broke down. Without a platform to start and finish the races, we were stuck on the dock.

We reached out to the Dempsey family, and they didn't hesitate to offer up the family boat. There was just one catch—the boat was up in Kawau Island, and we had no way to get it to the Waitematā. were stuck on the dock.

This is where "friends of friends" saved the day. We reached out to the team at Fishing Boats NZ, and they threw us a massive lifeline by lending us a trailer to get the boat where it needed to be.

It’s companies like that are the backbone of our community. They stepped up when we were in a bind, and thanks to them (and Tim’s family!), the regatta went off without a hitch.

A massive thank you for being the wind in our sails when we needed it most!