Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust Chooses New Beneteau Oceanis 45
CASE STUDY
The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is an extraordinary charity that gives young people aged 8 to 24, who are recovering from cancer, the opportunity to go sailing. By giving them the chance to get out on the water they can take their mind off their illness and focus on making new friends, learning new skills and finding new hope for the future.
The Trust is now able to help even more young people with the help of recent funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery they have been able to purchase their first yacht for a new location.
The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust came to Ancasta to help them find a yacht that would be easy to handle, have good access and ultimately, look after the young people they take out on the water. Working together to find the best boat for the job, Ancasta and the Trust decided that the Beneteau Oceanis 45 would be perfect for the life changing activities that they run.
In addition to these features, Hamble Yacht Services Refit and Repair have made extra modifications to make sure the yacht fully caters for the needs of the young people onboard. This work includes the addition of more hand rails to aid mobility around the yacht and a specially adapted two level bunk cabin in the bow to create extra sleeping accommodation and easy access. They also moved the primary winches forward to give the young people more room to move around when trimming the sails.
The Oceanis 45 has lots of features which fit well with the Trust’s needs. A large and stable platform, the yacht has a clear and tidy deck plan providing lots of space to move around in and assist safer manoeuvring. The twin steering wheel is also a useful set up when teaching young people how to helm and the drop down stern lowers to pontoon level to make access onto and off the boat simple, especially for those who might have limited mobility. Moreover, the gently sloping 45° companionway makes access around the yacht even easier.
The new boat’s hull and sails have been fully branded to help promote the Trust’s mission to assist young people recovering from cancer and was officially handed over by Dame Ellen MacArthur herself at the Southampton Boat Show 2016. This specially adapted yacht will begin sailing with the Trust in Spring 2017.
"This new yacht will allow us to provide a better experience for our young people with mobility issues. It will also make operations more cost efficient as the number of vessels needing to be chartered will be reduced…We would also like to thank Ancasta and Beneteau for supporting the Trust in this purchase, through the discount they provided and the care they have taken in the process to ensure that the needs of our young people are met. In particular a big thank you to Nick Griffith the Managing Director of Ancasta who, without his support this would not have been possible."
Frank Fletcher, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust Chief Executive
Ancasta Yacht Services Ltd
Port Hamble, Satchell Lane, Hamble, Southampton, SO31 4QD
The Port Hamble AYS Office with stunning views overlooks the River Hamble.
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