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Able Sail/Handi-Voile Inc.
PO Box 9061
Shediac, N.B.
E4P 8W5

shediac@ablesail.ca

Telephone: (506) 533-9750
(In season)

ABLE SAIL - 26 YEARS OF HISTORY

On July 13, 1985, seven skippers from the Pointe-du-Chêne Yacht Club and the Shediac Municipal Marina invited 14 young persons with disabilities to come sailing (on both sail and power boats) with them on Shediac Bay. Aboard Gerry Doyle's C&C 30 were Anne and Bill McRae and their son Gordon. The project was called "Able Sail" and thanks to the generosity of local skippers who volunteered their time and boats, continued each summer until 1989, when enthusiasm was such that Able Sail purchased their first boat (a Freedom Independence 21.)

gordon
Gordon (at right) and friend aboard Gerry Doyle's boat - July 13, 1985

Gordon McRae exemplified the best qualities of sailors - good humour, camaraderie, and a desire to help being uppermost. Gordon passed away suddenly in August 1988 at 10 years of age, and Able Sail's first boat was named in his memory.