Competition, fun and developing a community are the goals for this weekend's Healthvision Disability of Sport.
It will be the second time the event has been run after the inaugural event was run at ASB Arena last year. Organised by Parafed Bay of Plenty, the event will include more than120 athletes competing in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, powerchair football, blind lawn bowls and sailability events.
At the heart of the sailing event is some home-grown Tauranga ingenuity.
Electrician and regatta organiser Richard Chamberlin has changed the way vision-impaired sailors will take to the course. At other events sailors would have a buddy that would use a radio, monitored by the race committee, to give directions.
But this weekend sailors will use buoys that beep.
"We have developed a genuine mark they will go around and have put the devices into 200-litre drums," Chamberlin says.
"It is a horn that has different tones for each sailor and we can turn them on and off as required. I love inventing and fiddling around with these kinds of things and I wanted to make something that would work."
Chamberlin's wife Pauline is a vision-impaired sailor, and a national champion, and will be competing. She told Chamberlin the new marks were great as she felt the radio took away her independence.
"Using the buddy system was a bit of a problem, as if you are standing sideways from a boat it was difficult to relay the bearing."
Richard Chamberlin has changed the way vision-impaired sailors will use the course. He is pictured with his wife Pauline, who is a vision-impaired sailor, and national champion. Photo/Andrew Warner
This year's festival will be staged at three venues this year and also include a have a go youth day on Saturday.
The event's mandate is to encourage people with a physical disability to give sports a go and to increase their quality of life.
Event manager Claudia West says she hopes to see the event grow in the coming years.
"The youth development programme is new this year. We want people from ages 8 to 21 to come down, with their families, and have a go. This is more about participation and we will have adaptive sports such as indoor rowing, golf, table tennis and boccia."
The Healthvision Festival of Disability Sport, March 30-31:
Saturday - Trustpower Arena:
9-9.30am: Festival opening.
10-4pm: McFall Fuel Wheelchair Basketball, Northern League.
10am-4pm: Wheelchair Rugby, The Bash.
10am-3pm: Youth Programme and Powerchair Football Have a Go.
