Quadriplegic Sailor Hilary Lister yesterday visited the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, the site that will host the 2012 Olympics, on Day 29 of her ‘Round Britain Dream’. She is attempting to sail solo round the coast of Britain in her adapted Artemis 20.

Hilary, who is only able to move her head, entered the record books on 23rd August 2005 when she sailed solo across the English Channel by using a ‘sip and puff’ system of straws to control the sails and tiller. She has spent much of the past month stuck in Lymington: initially following a number of setbacks and gear failures, and latterly due to inclement weather. She plans to spend one more night in Portland before heading west.

Hilary comments, ‘When you live in a wheelchair or bed 24 hours a day, being in a sail boat is like flying. You have a freedom on water you don’t have anywhere.’

Follow Hilary’s progress at her Round Britain Dream website