Sparkle was a substantial catamaran designed by

Angus Primrose Angus Primrose (missing at sea, 1980) was a designer and naval architect, whose best known designs for around the world races included Sir Francis Chichester's ''Gypsy Moth IV'' (with John Illingworth) and Galway Blazer II (1969) of Commander B ...

, the designer of

Gipsy Moth IV ''Gipsy Moth IV'' is a ketch that Sir Francis Chichester commissioned specifically to sail single-handed around the globe, racing against the times set by the clipper ships of the 19th century. Gipsy Moth IV was the first ever purpose built ...

, to be sailed by an able bodied

skipper Skipper or skippers may refer to: Rank * Skipper (boating), a person who has command of a vessel * Skipper (rank), a former warrant rank in the British Royal Naval Reserve. Also informal for an officer of sergeant rank in British policing * T ...

and crewed by people of limited physical ability and mobility. It was based partially at

Ravens Ait Raven's Ait is an ait (island) in the Thames between Surbiton, Kingston and Hampton Court Park in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London, England, in the reach of the river above Teddington Lock. Used as a boating training centre fo ...

on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it h ...

in Surrey. It was designed to allow physically handicapped people the chance to sail a boat themselves It featured a large open cockpit suitable for wheelchair access, with tether points for the crew to use. It was almost certainly the first purpose built sailing boat for disabled sailors to use. Sparkle was a major project in the 1970s of the SPARKS Charity.

External links

* Charities for disabled people Individual catamarans {{UK-charity-stub