#Sailability - Natasha Lambert sailed into Dun Laoghaire Marina yesterday (Wednesday 2 August) to complete her challenge of crossing the Irish Sea by ‘sip and puff’ sailing.
Twenty-year-old Lambert, who has athertoid cerebral palsy, sails her 21ft yacht by puffing and sipping on a straw that controls the rudder.
Last month Lambert travelled from her home on the Isle of Wight to south-west Scotland, from where she sailed across to Carrickfergus before continuing along the coast in what she’s dubbed her ‘Sea and Summit Ireland Challenge’ to raise funds for the Miss Isle School of Sip and Puff.
As the title suggests, the next step for the adventurous Natasha is climbing the Wicklow Mountains — made possible with the use of a Hart Walker, a device that enables her to stand upright.
Yachting & Boat World reports that Lambert is the first woman with a disability to skipper a yacht from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
But she’s no stranger to the water, with English Channel crossings and a 500-plus-mile journey from Cowes to Wales among her achievements.