Blown Away is a Nautitech 46 Open modified to be sailed across the Atlantic and beyond by quadriplegic sailor Natasha LambertOn 12 December, Natasha Lambert realised an ambition six years in the making. Back in 2014, Natasha, then 17, met her hero, Ellen MacArthur, and set her heart on ocean sailing.
\nAs a young woman with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, the difficulties she faced were colossal, but she and her family and crew sailed into St Lucia in their Nautitech 46 Open cat, Blown Away, after 18 days at sea.
\nOn arriving in St Lucia Natasha said that it was: \u201cAn amazing trip, loved it \u2013 didn\u2019t want to stop but it\u2019s great to be here!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lamberts had taken part in the ARC transatlantic rally from Gran Canaria to St Lucia. From choosing a suitable boat for Natasha to modifying and adapting it so that she can control the wheel and trim the sails with helmet controls, it has been a huge undertaking \u2013 2020\u2019s pandemic was but one layer of difficulty.
\nWe met the family on board their boat in Las Palmas, and Natasha\u2019s mum Amanda answered questions on behalf of Natasha as the special communication computer Natasha uses had been smashed going through airport security and she was waiting for a replacement to arrive.
\nNatasha was introduced to sailing at the age of nine, and was immediately captivated by it. She suffers from involuntary movements so can\u2019t always co-ordinate her limbs, but had always been able to drink from a straw and make sip and puff movements, so dad Gary had the idea of using this to activate switches to control the helm and sails on a custom-adapted vessel.
\nThey started experimenting with model boats before buying bought a 21ft Mini 6.50, Miss Isle, which Gary adapted and Natasha sailed round the Isle of Wight in 2012. In 2014, she sailed to Wales and walked up Pen Y Fan mountain using her special Hart Walker.
\nNatasha and her family (from left): Gary, Natasha, Amanda and 14-year-old sister, Rachel. Photo: James Mitchell
\nSince then she has sailed and climbed mountains in Scotland and Ireland, using these unimaginably hard physical tests to raise money for charities to help other young people with disabilities or recovering from cancer.
\nDesire for an ocean crossing
\nAfter meeting Ellen MacArthur, Natasha set her heart on sailing across the Atlantic.
\n\u201cGary and I were not convinced at that stage. We thought it was a nice idea but a pipe dream,\u201d says Amanda. \u201cBut then we spoke to lots of people and they said that with the right boat and support it could be possible.\u201d
\nThe Lamberts began looking at yachts that could be adapted and that were both accessible and affordable. A catamaran was an obvious choice, and the family chartered in Croatia to see if it was an experience they would enjoy and could manage.
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\u201cThere were no companies that offered any adapted boats and eventually we rented a Lagoon. It was not ideal and a struggle, but we all loved it and after the week we thought maybe it was a possibility and started looking at how we could finance it,\u201d says Amanda.
\nThe decision to buy a boat had to be Natasha\u2019s, and she was insistent. The money came from a compensation award she received for her birth injury, but Amanda says: \u201cWe have to make sure that her finances will last all her life, and we have to conserve that.\u201d
\nThe Lamberts settled on the Nautitech 46 Open, large enough for the family to sail with the extra help they\u2019d need (they did the ARC with a crew of eight, including two carers and a friend who is a Yachtmaster instructor\/examiner).
\nAdapting the catamaran
\nIt fell to Gary to design and build a system for the Nautitech that could be operated by sip and puff controls. He created the computer control system using open source software.
\nIt is activated by controls on Natasha\u2019s helmet, which plugs in at the helm stations. Natasha holds a plastic tube in her mouth and when she puffs the wheel is turned to turn to port, and to starboard when she sips.
\nSip and puff controls on Natasha\u2019s helmet: she controls the boat by puffing or sipping on the plastic tube. A switch on the chinguard changes modes from helm to sails.. Photo: James Mitchell
\nNatasha also has a plastic button mounted on her helmet chin guard which she can push with her tongue. This changes modes from operating the wheel to operating the mainsheet winch and traveller flatwinder, either trimming in or paying out the sail.
\nBeneath the button is a brass shaft. When depressed, it blocks the light passing between an LED on one side and a light-dependent resistor \u2014 in effect, it is a light shutter that operates a switch. When Natasha changes modes, a puff eases the sail out, while a sip trims in.
\nAs Natasha cannot easily see the mainsail angle from the helming seats, she matches up LED lights on a display above the wheel. A top arc of LEDs indicates where the boom is, while the bottom LEDs indicate where the computer recommends the boom to be. This can also be done automatically. If the boom is within a 7\u00b0 arc of the centreline, Natasha\u2019s sip and puff tube operates the flatwinder to move the traveller up and down. Past that point, the system instead activates a Harken rewind winch, which eases or winds in the mainsheet.
\nNatasha Lambert controlling the boat via sip and puff technology mounted on her helmet and linked to a computer. Photo: James Mitchell
\nIf she wants to operate the pit winches to trim the headsail, someone else has to activate a manual switch, however. \u201cWhat I didn\u2019t want to do is have a massive menu for Tash to have to scroll down,\u201d explains Gary. \u201cI wanted it as rapid and as easy as it could be for her to sail the boat and as straightforward and fun as I could.\u201d
\nLiving space
\nInside Blown Away, some small adaptations have also been made to make it easier for Natasha to live on board. For example, tracks are fixed to the deckhead and under the cockpit hardtop so that Natasha can be moved safely around in a hoist. She sleeps in the port hull, which has the owner\u2019s cabin configuration, with a double bed and heads\/shower. She is carried up and down into this. In the saloon, a seating area to port doubles up as a day bed or standby berth.
\nThe table in the cockpit can be removed so that Natasha can use her Hart Walker on a treadmill. The hands-free exoskeleton device allows her to walk and exercise while on board. It is normally connected to four wheels and she has used it to walk up mountains.
\nA special Hart Walker mobility device is fitted to a treadmill so that Natasha can exercise while on board. Photo: James Mitchell
\nDuring the Atlantic crossing, Natasha\u2019s family restricted helming spells to around an hour, because the sip and puff controls can lead to dehydration. When I asked Natasha how long she would like to sail for, she replied: \u201cAll day!\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s just incredible to see Natasha sail,\u201d says Amanda. \u201cTo think of everything that we\u2019ve gone through over the last years, and since Natasha was born, when I think of everything that was told to us that wouldn\u2019t be possible\u2026 to actually see Natasha controlling a boat like this is just phenomenal. We just feel so, so lucky and so proud of her.
\n\u201cNatasha has definitely taken us all out of our comfort zone. She has pushed all the family to the limits and we are all really enjoying it now. Natasha is quite proud to think she has convinced us all to do this, and we are all really happy to be here to support her.\u201d
\nSpecifications:LOA: 13.79m \/ 45ft 3inLWL: 13.71m \/ 45ft 0inBeam: 7.54m \/ 24ft 9inDraught: 1.45m \/ 4ft 9inEngines: 2 x 40hp Volvo SaildrivesSail area: mainsail 76m2 \/ 818ft2
\nself-tacking jib 38m2\u00a0\/ 409ft2Design:\u00a0 Marc LombardPrice: (ex VAT) Approx \u20ac450,000
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The post Blown Away: How this Nautitech 46 Open was modified for Natasha Lambert appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blown Away is a Nautitech 46 Open modified to be sailed across the Atlantic and beyond by quadriplegic sailor Natasha LambertOn 12 December, Natasha Lambert realised an ambition six years in the making. Back in 2014, Natasha, then 17, met … <\/p>\n