A British woman who can only move her head, eyes and mouth sailed across the English Channel and into the record books Tuesday on board a modified boat she controlled by sucking or blowing into straws.
Hilary Lister, 33, set sail from Dover, south-east England, at 8:30 am (0730 GMT) and arrived in the French port of Calais six hours and 13 minutes later to the sound of horns and the Queen anthem "We Are the Champions".
The feat set the record for the world's longest solo sailing trip by a quadriplegic.
"I just whooped very loudly, I was just really happy," Lister told AFP as supporters crowded around to congratulate her.
"It feels fantastic and I hope that it maybe changes ideas about disabled people."
Lister made the voyage - a painful endeavour for her because of the degenerative disease reflex sympathetic dystrophy she was diagnosed as having since her teenage years - without the use of her arms or legs.
Her specially designed vessel, a 7.9-metre (26-foot) Soling keelboat baptised Malin, was steered by a "sip and puff" method in which she sucked or blew down two straws - one attached to the tiller and the other controlling both of the sails - to guide the boat forward.
"As we crossed the line there were bells, horns, and they played 'We Are the Champions'," Lister said.
But while revelling in her effort, she modestly attributed her success to the yachting association that backed her, to Pindar, an international print and electronic media company that sponsored her trip, and to the UK Sailing Academy which provided training and made the necessary modifications to the boat.
"I was just the driver. That's all," she said.
She added that "with technology today there are no limits" to what disabled people can accomplish.
A spokeswoman said the weather conditions for Lister's trip had been good, with the sun pushing through the clouds and a light breeze.
Although the Channel is more than 35 kilometres (22 miles) wide at the point where she crossed, Lister charted a kind of triangle-shaped journey, pushing the total distance to about 55 kilometres.
Through the mission, she hoped to raise awareness about disabled sailing, as well as 30,000 to 50,000 pounds (54,000-74,000 dollars, 44,000-90,000 euros) to allow more people with disabilities the chance to participate in the sport.
Lister, who lives with her husband Clifford, 47, in Canterbury near to the coast, started sailing in 2003 and said the sport had given her fresh hope at a time when she had been tempted to end her suffering.
Lister recalled her frustration at always being a passenger on a boat and relished the chance to be able to sail herself.
She said crossing the Channel was an obvious goal as it was so close to her home.
But the young woman does not plan to rest on her laurels. She has already set her sights on an even tougher sailing adventure: circumnavigating Britain maybe as early as next year and possibly one day accompanying a friend on a round-the-world voyage.
Comments
Comments are closed.