disAbled Sailing of Oregon (disAbled SailOR) is a therapeutic recreation program founded by Eugene based World Wheelchair Sports (WWS) in 1995. Realizing that many wheelchair users will never have the strength or motor skills to compete in elite Paralympic sports, the leadership of World Wheelchair Sports looked to the waters of Lane County to provide a recreational outlet for chair users.

WWS chose to begin a sailing program because sailing is the ONLY sport where severely disabled persons and able bodied persons can compete on a nearly equal basis. With the proper equipment even the highest level quadriplegics can experience freedom on the water. Sailing builds confidence and fosters independence. Being out on open water with able-bodied sailors, disabled individuals gain a boost in self-esteem and experience an emotional and literal release from the confines of their wheelchairs, which stay on the dock. To wheelchair sailors the program’s red racing sailboat named Quadzilla, serves as a symbolic reminder of the boundless potential that may be achieved by persons with disabilities - it is the dream of freedom, fully realized