Brave quad Hilary rescued from Force 5 winds

12:44 AM Sun 7 Jun 2009 GMT

'Hilary embarking' .

Quad sailor Hilary Lister has had to be rescued when she and her support boat were caught in Force 5 wind against tide conditions, the Royal National Lifeboat Instititute announced today. Hilary is trying to become the first quad sailor to circumnavigate Britain.

Concerns were raised for the safety of Hilary Lister when her boat failed to arrive in Fishguard, west Wales, at the expected time of 10pm last night.

The Fishguard all-weather lifeboat was subsequently launched to locate the 37-year-old, from Kent, and her support boat which has five people on board.

She was located two miles north of Strumble Head battling against the tide which had turned against her amid Force 5 winds.

Shortly after 1.30am, her yacht had to be towed to calmer waters before it was safe for her to be transferred to the lifeboat.

She was subsequently taken for treatment by ambulance to Withybush hospital in Haverfordwest after becoming hypothermic. The hospital discharged her after two hours.

An update on her website reads: "Hilary arrived in Fishguard at 01:30 6th May an excellent sail was followed by a very difficult end. We may remain Fishguard for a week."

She plans to complete her journey around the coast of Britain and the east coast of Ireland in a series of 40 day sails, and Sail-World has been following her progress.

It is hoped thousands of pounds will be raised for her charity, Hilary's Dream Trust, which exists to provide assistance to disabled and disadvantaged adults who want to sail.

The round-Britain challenge started on June 16 last year when she set off from Dover and sailed the length of the south coast.

After arriving in Newlyn, Cornwall on August 13, the team decided to postpone the rest of the journey due to hold-ups caused by the poor weather conditions.

Mrs Lister's boat Me Too is an Artemis 20, a 20ft carbon fibre keelboat, designed by Rogers Yacht Design.

She controls the boat using a "sip and puff" system, developed by Steve Alvey of Calgary, Canada.

The system uses three straws which are connected to sensitive pressure switches, a "sip" on one straw will cause the boat to go to starboard, while a "puff" will take the boat to port.

The second straw controls the winch motor for both sails in a similar fashion.

The third straw allows Mrs Lister to control her Raymarine autopilot, to trim one sail relative to the other and raise or lower the height of the boom.

Of the rescue, Peter Kedward of the RNLI, said: "Eventually the Coastguard managed to make radio contact and established that she was two miles north of Strumble Head and under tow by her support boat.

"Conditions were becoming very difficult and the tide had turned against her."

He added: "With Force 5 winds and with wind over tide, the sea state became very demanding and the lady requested to be transferred to the all-weather lifeboat as she was becoming hypothermic."

by Walesonline/Sail-World