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Wetwheels Hamble naming
25 May 2016
Wetwheels Hamble is officially named by Dame Mary Fagan DCVO, JP Photo: Brian Curtis
OFFICAL NAMING: Wetwheels Hamble was officially named by Dame Mary Fagan DCVO, JP at a ceremony on 14 May at the Royal Southern Yacht Club.
Captain Christopher Fagan joined Dame Mary on the Prince Philip Yacht Haven pontoons, alongside Trustees of the Wetwheels Foundation (WWF), Eastleigh MP Mims Davies, the directors of Wetwheels Hamble CIC and the commodore of the Royal Southern Yacht Club.
Geoff Holt MBE, DL, disabled sailing ambassador, was the driving force behind the Wetwheels initiative.
He said: “Today is obviously a special day for everyone involved but it is also a tremendously moving day for me.”
“We have come a long way and it makes me incredibly proud to see this, our third boat on the water, especially knowing the lives she will enrich over her life time here on the river. The Hamble is very special to me for a number of reasons and I just know that the whole community will benefit from her presence here.”
In June 2014 it was first agreed that the proceeds from the RSrnYC Charity Summer Ball would go towards the building of a Wetwheels Hamble boat to be operated from the Royal Southern.
It was also agreed that the funding to provide disabled facilities in the Club’s new Prince Philip Yacht Haven were to be donated through the Royal Southern Yacht Club Charitable Trust.
Once the fundraising campaign was officially launched it only took 44 days to announce that 75% of the target has been reached, sufficient to instruct Cheetah Marine to schedule the building of the third boat for launching in the spring of 2016.
The Wetwheels boats are all built by Cheetah Marine in Ventnor, Isle of Wight and Suzuki, who have supported Geoff Holt since the launching of the Solent boat that operates from Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, are the official engine suppliers.
Andy Fell, chairman of the WWF, said: “We are delighted with the new Wetwheels Hamble boat. We know there is a big demand from disabled people to access the water in this area and what better home for our 3rd boat than the Prince Philip Yacht Haven on the beautiful Hamble River.”