About Us
We are the Sailing Vision Trust, a UK-based charitable trust and community with a goal to make watersports, and especially coastal sailing, accessible to everyone.
Sailing for all
The Sailing Vision Trust (SVT) is a not-for-profit charitable trust comprising sighted and non-sighted Trustees. It is supported entirely by volunteers for the benefit of visually impaired people to participate in sailing and other outdoor activities.
The aims of Sailing Vision Trust are:
- To manage, promote and develop SV Week as one of the foremost V.I. sailing events
- To develop technology that helps and supports visually-impaired sailors
- Support short introductions to sailing to encourage involvement
- Support the development of skills through experience on the water
- Foster and promote links with other like-minded organisations
"This isn't a holiday…we stretch our participants to do as much as possible"
Will Bridge, Chair, Sailing Vision Trust
A history in helping disabled sportspeople
Sailing Vision Week has been operating for more than 40 years and is the largest event of its kind in the UK. The earliest SVT Week on record was in the late 1970s and like many events it has evolved and grown with numerous organisations, clubs and charities having
contributed and supported the event since the start. SV Week has always been run as a ‘not-for-profit’ sailing event which is totally co-ordinated and run by a small team of volunteers.
In 2005 Sporting Activities for the Disabled Charitable Trust became the Charity behind SV Week until, in 2021, the SAD Trustees decided to hand the baton over to a new group of Trustees. The event’s official name also became Sailing Vision Week. The new Trustees have taken on the challenge with great enthusiasm and having established revitalised aims and ambitions for the charity have also adopted a new name, the Sailing Vision Trust.
Since its origins SV Week has alternated between Cornwall and the Solent with local yacht clubs acting as the host venue. Each year Blind Week attracts between 20 and 25 privately owned and chartered yachts to take part and offers 50-60 crew places to visually impaired sailors. All skippers and sighted crew give their yachts and their time freely to participate in the event and they are enthusiastically supported by other organisations and charities who also enter their yachts to participate in SV Week. The event’s organisers are always very pleased to welcome V.I. sailors of all ages (minimum age of 18) - previous sailing experience is not required!