Isle of Wight solo sail for cerebral palsy girl

A 15-year-old girl with cerebral palsy will sail solo around the Isle of Wight to raise £30,000 for charity. Natasha Lambert, from Cowes, has athertoid cerebral palsy which affects all of her limbs and speech. Her 21ft-long (6.4m) boat, Miss Isle Too, was adapted by her father, Gary, and allows her to steer by sucking and blowing into a tube. Natasha hopes to complete the 50-mile (80km) course on Sunday in 10 to 14 hours. 'Epic journey' Her mother, Amanda, said: "She's so excited but it's going to be an epic journey." The route, which will start at Cowes at 06:00 BST, will take Natasha in an anti-clockwise direction around the island, via The Needles and on to St Catherine's Point. Natasha, who started sailing when she was 12, hopes the journey will raise £30,000 for Isle of Wight Scope, Cowes RNLI Life Boat and the Ellen MacArthur Trust. She said her next challenge would be the Atlantic, which she described as "my ultimate dream".