Natasha prepares for Atlantic voyage

Young Isle of Wight sailor Natasha Lambert has a new yacht and is planning to sail across the Atlantic with the ARC rally next November. Lambert, 21, is profoundly disabled as a result of quadriplegic cerebral palsy, but her tenacity and determination to tackle adventures has driven her to sail round the

Isle of Wight, across the English Channel in her converted sip-puff operated Mini Transat yacht Miss Isle, then a series of voyages and mountain summits in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Now, she wants to go further, and sail across an ocean. She and her parents, Gary and Amanda, have chosen a Nautitech Open 46 and will be showing the boat at the Southampton Boat Show before converting the yacht and setting it up to be operated by integrated sip-puff controls and ‘eye gaze’ computer software.

For the Atlantic crossing, Natasha will be sailing with a crew including her parents and her younger sister, who is aged 11.

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