Disabled Woman Sets Solo Sailing Record

Hilary Lister yesterday sipped and puffed her way into the record books, becoming the first quadriplegic to sail solo across the English Channel.

Lister, who is able to move only her head, eyes and mouth, used two straws to navigate her eight-metre (26ft) boat Malin through one of the busiest and most dangerous shipping channels in the world.

By sucking and blowing on the straws in her specially adapted boat she was able to adjust the sails and tiller of the boat.

Lister, 33, who lives with her husband Clifford in Canterbury, Kent, yesterday completed her journey from Dover to Calais in six hours and 13 minutes, setting a record for the world's longest solo sail by a quadriplegic.

She was greeted in France with a champagne reception. "I am just thrilled. I can't tell you what it feels like," she said.

"It is just tremendous. It has been a huge team effort. I am so grateful to everyone who made it possible.

"It is very emotional for me. I was absolutely certain that once I got in the boat that I could make it to France. I am too stubborn to give up."

Lister took up sailing two years ago as a way to boost her self-confidence.

She was diagnosed when she was a teenager with the degenerative disease reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which causes exaggerated and painful responses from normal sensations. She had lived an active life until the disease took hold and gradually deprived her of most of her normal functions.

Lister added that, by completing the voyage, she would challenge the public's perception of disabled people: "I want to get able-bodied people to rethink their views about the disabled.

"We do not need wrapping up in cotton wool and can go out and do silly or dangerous things if that's what we want to do."

Lister said she now had her sights set on sailing around Britain in a new challenge to take place next year. Speaking before the bid, she said: "Sailing provided me with fresh hope and determination at a time when I was at my lowest ebb."

The solo round-the-world yachtswoman Emma Richards, who sailed alongside Malin in a support vessel during the crossing, said she was bowled over by Lister's courage and ability. "Hilary is a truly exceptional figure. When I first met her I was inspired by her spirit and determination and I felt that the Channel Challenge was a fantastic project to be involved with.

"It has been an amazing day and Hilary has been on top form. She must be running on adrenaline alone now she's finished."