Inaugural ISAF Paralympic Devlopment Programme clinic held at London 2012 venue

Seven nations participated in the inuagural ISAF Paralympic Development Programme in Weymouth ©ISAF

Seven countries have participated in the inaugural International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Paralympic Development Programme clinic, held at the host venue of the sailing events at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Czech Republic, China, Estonia, Hong Kong, Portugal, South Africa and Singapore all sent sailors to the five-day event in Weymouth, organised in order to try and develop the sport across the world following the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) controversial decision to axe sailing from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games earlier this year.

The clinic was also aimed at increasing the number of nations who are able to compete in events using Paralympic equipment, such as the Sailing World Cup, Disabled Sailing World Championships and Paralympic Games qualification events.

It is also hoped that the clinic will enhance the number of classified sailors registered with the governing body’s Member Federations as part of a drive to get more people involved with the sport.

The event was led by Betsy Alison, US Sailing Paralympic coach and chair of the Disabled Sailing Committee, alongside Royal Yachting Association Paralympic development coach Matt Grier and sailing coach Jacob Haug.

Sailing made its Paralympic debut at Sydney 2000 and has appeared in every Games since but won't appear at Tokyo 2020 — Sailing made its Paralympic debut at Sydney 2000 and has appeared in every Games since but will not appear at Tokyo 2020 after it was controversially axed because of lack of participation around the world ©Getty Images

Countries will now be able to use five charter boats for the second clinic, scheduled to be staged ahead of the 2015 Disabled Sailing World Championships, due to take place from November 24 until December 3 in Melbourne.

The programme itself was devised with the help of the ISAF Disabled Sailing Committee and will enable them to launch sustainable grassroots initiatives in order to increase the number of elite-level disabled athletes, it is claimed.

It was launched in direct response to the sport’s exclusion from Tokyo 2020, which occurred largely due to what the IPC call a lack of worldwide reach, with only 30 countries practicing the sport at the performance level, two short of IPC requirements.

Sailing was omitted following an assessment process which took into account worldwide participation in terms of countries and continents, where the sport is regularly practiced, a quadrennial competition programme, athlete classification, anti-doping programme, rules and regulations, and initiatives undertaken to make their sport more attractive.