Sailing the Atlantic using sip and puff tech
Disabled sailor Natasha Lambert is believed to be the first person to sail across the Atlantic using just sip and puff technology to control her boat.
The 23-year-old, who has quadriplegic athetoid cerebral palsy which affects her limbs and speech, left from Gran Canaria, with her crew as part of the 2020 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) fleet.
They crossed the finish line at 1039 on 11 December 2020 after 18 days, 21 hours and 39 minutes at sea, sailing 2,808 miles.
Natasha sailed the Nautitech Open 46, Blown Away — the largest vessel ever converted to use sip and puff technology. Her father Gary designed the specially adapted system, using open source software; it incorporates a sip-puff system that utilises a single straw, allowing Natasha to control the helm and sails.
Natasha runs her own charity, the Missisle School of Sip-puff Sailing, which offers sip and puff sailing trips to other young people.
The charity’s secretary, Tony Reeve, said: ‘We believe that Natasha, in completing this challenge becomes the first and youngest female quadriplegic skipper to cross the Atlantic using the only boat to be adapted to use the sip-puff technology developed for this purpose. Huge congratulations to Natasha and her team.’
The Cowes sailor was also hoping to raise £30,000 during the challenge for three charities: the RNLI; the Ellen Macarthur Cancer Trust; and the Missisle School of Sip-puff Sailing. Donations can be made here: yachtingmonthly.com/natashalambert
Natasha began sailing at the age of nine. In her Mini 6.50 Missisle Too, which also has sip and puff controls, she has sailed solo around the Isle of Wight, across the Channel from Boulogne to Dover, and from Cowes to London. During these challenges she has raised over £50,000 for charity, and was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2015.