Disabled Sailor Natasha Lambert’s 2014 Sea and Summit Challenge
Natasha Lambert from the Isle of Wight is no ordinary teenager. Few 16-year-olds can claim to have sailed the English Channel singled handed, but cerebral palsy sufferer Natasha did it using just her mouth to control the boat.
The Yachting Journalists’ Association Sailor of the Year 2013 is already planning her next big challenge. In June she’ll sail from Cowes to Swansea and then climb to the summit of Pen y Fan Mountain.
Sailing is Like Escaping into My Own World
Natasha loves the freedom that sailing gives her and enjoys being able to raise money to help others.
“I like sailing because it’s like escaping into my own world. I’m able to make decisions for myself and I actually have control over what I’m doing.
“I love that feeling of freedom and being able to make the boat sail fast. There aren’t many sports I can take part in, but I can sail and it feels amazing. Now I want to see what else I can do that people have told me I can’t.
“As people can’t always understand my speech, sometimes they underestimate me and assume I can’t understand. I like to show people what is possible.
“Through sailing I can help people by fundraising for charity, which is great because it’s usually the other way round. I may not be able to do the washing up or clean my room, but I can raise money for good causes and that makes me feel really good.”
Sip and Puff Sailing
Natasha’s love of sailing began after an action-packed holiday with the Calvert Trust, explains her mother Amanda.
“Natasha’s disability means she has jerky movement, which affects her whole body. When she was nine we took her on an outdoor adventure holiday where she was able to try lots of activities, but sailing was her favourite. Natasha loves being out on the water.
“Afterwards we looked for a way for Natasha to get more involved with sailing. There were groups, like the Even Keel Project and our local RYA Sailability organisation, that were able to take her out as a passenger, but no one could offer her the chance to sail a boat herself because of the extent of her mobility issues.
“We decided to come up with a way for Natasha to take a more active role ourselves. We bought a model boat and had a sip and puff system installed, which lets you control the rudder with your mouth.
“We fitted this system onto our first boat, the Artemis 20 named ‘Miss Isle’, which gave Natasha full control of the helm. This took a lot of research and testing night after night, for months on end.
“Later on we refurbished a Mini Transat called ‘Miss Isle Too’. This boat was slightly larger so we were able to fit in extra equipment, such as Harken rewind winches, that allowed Natasha to adjust the sails using a switch inside her helmet that she operates with her tongue.
“It’s a lot for Natasha to think about at once, but she’s shown she’s a talented sailor with a series of ever more daring challenges.”
2014 Sea and Summit
In 2012 Natasha sailed all the way around the Isle of Wight and last year she made an historic journey across the English Channel. But Miss Isle has even more ambitious plans for 2014.
“Natasha and her sailing instructor, RYA racing coach Phil Devereux, have come up with the idea for the Sea and Summit challenge.
“Natasha is going to leave the Isle of Wight on June 24th, sail down the South Coast of England, and then brave the waters of the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Wales. After arriving at Swansea she’ll make her way to the summit of Pen y Fan using her special walking frame.
“It’s an extremely tough route. They can only stop at certain ports along the way and some of the stretches are 70 miles long. It will be a real test of endurance, particularly as Natasha has never climbed a mountain before, but she’s getting in plenty of practice by going on lots of long walks.”
Natasha doesn’t just take on these challenges because she loves sailing. She’s hoping to raise a total of £15,000 for three great causes – and Amanda couldn’t be more proud of her daughter’s achievements.
“Natasha wants to raise £5,000 each for The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, The Royal National Lifeboat Institution and The Royal Yachting Association. She only supports charities that are close to her heart – the RNLI, for example, saved the life of a friend of hers who got into an accident at sea a few years ago.
“Natasha has picked up some amazing awards over the last few years. She was named the YJA Apollo Young Sailor of the Year and RNLI Young Supporter of the year in 2013. Natasha was overjoyed to win these awards as they normally go to able-bodied sailors, and that goes to show the strength of her recent achievements.”
Disabled Sailing in the UK
Amanda thinks sailing has given a huge boost to Natasha’s confidence and encourages more people with disabilities to give it go.
“Finding a way for Natasha to get involved in sailing was hard because of the nature of her disability and we had to invest a lot of time and money into it. Artemis Investment was able to offer us sponsorship and we’ve had help in the form of clothing and support, from organisations such as Island Sailing Club, Cowes Yacht Haven, Seasafe and Harken.
“Now that we’ve developed this sailing equipment, we’d love for other people to be able to use it too. We’ve been contacted by one or two people who are interested in using our boats and we’re hoping they’ll be able to come over to Cowes and use them this summer.
“Natasha gets frustrated because she’s as intelligent as anyone her age, but people don’t always see her that way. Sometimes when people see her in a wheelchair their reaction is ‘aww’ – which is quite patronising.
“Sailing is her way of proving people wrong. Her achievements speak volumes. She’s saying ‘well I’ve got a disability and look what I’ve achieved’.”