Disable Bodied Sailors

• 2010-2010
• Documentary

One man, one boat and one motley crew, all with one mission: to complete the world's most dangerous and deadly ocean race. This is the story of the Sailors with Disabilities, a crew where broken backs and missing limbs present no obstacle. Sailors with Disabilities has been doing the Hobart for 17 years, ever since skipper David Pescud took a chance on a young paraplegic who was desperate to go to Hobart. But this year David Pescud has decided to set himself a new challenge; he wants to take a bunch of new recruits who have never been sailing, let alone on a racing yacht to Hobart. This skipper is a brave man - the Sydney to Hobart is one of the most ferocious ocean races in the world. Renowned in the sailing community for his command on the water, David is the only skipper with the guts, the stamina and the determination to take on this endeavor. Sailing is the only sport which doesn't have a special category for the disabled, and David and the Sailors with Disabilities crew have won the Sydney to Hobart twice against fully able crews. David's mission is not just to bring new disabled bodies to SwD - he wants the message to get out that disabled people are not to be taken for granted. And that disabled people themselves should never take their own potential for granted either. The road to Hobart doesn't go smoothly. The new recruits are pushed to their limits, and time is against them all. How can one prepare for the notorious open water of Bass Strait in just 12 weeks? Along the journey to Hobart the individual stories behind the disabilities emerge; what is it like to know that in a few months all your sight will be gone? How does it feel to wake up in hospital to be told you will never walk again? Or what is it like to be born with a body that has people staring wherever you go? disAble Bodied Sailors is the journey of one skipper who is determined to get his crew first to Hobart, and the personal stories of the sailors who come along for the ride.