Huge crowds gathered this afternoon for the funeral of inspirational quadriplegic yachtswoman Hilary Lister.

Friends and family of the world record-breaking sailor met for the service at St Michael's Church in Hernhill – with a turnout so great that a farmer's field had to be used as a car park.

Hilary died on August 18, after friends found they couldn't rouse her and she was rushed to hospital.

Since then, hundreds of tributes have been paid online to the "extraordinary" sister, daughter, stepmum, friend, colleague and sailor.

Hilary, who lived in Dunkirk near Canterbury, was born able-bodied but a degenerative condition left her wheelchair-bound at the age of 15.

While studying for a PhD at the University of Oxford, her condition grew worse and at the age of 27 she became paralysed from the neck down.

In 2003, she started sailing in Westbere, just outside Canterbury.

She soon fell in love with the sport – which she was able to do thanks to innovative "sip-puff" technology that allowed her to sail using three straws operated by her mouth, linked to a Power Assist System.

The indomitable sportswoman went on to break several records – sailing across the English Channel, sailing solo around the Isle of Wight, and in 2009 completing a solo round-Britain voyage.

Martin Rudd, one of Hilary's three brothers, made a heartfelt tribute to his sister at her funeral this afternoon.

"For a short, idyllic time, Simon and I were ahead," he said, recounting early years with the sister he affectionately called Frill.

"Many of you will have had the same experience of feeling, briefly, that you were ahead of Hilary.

"But for us, it didn't last long. Within a few months, Simon and I found ourselves being outsmarted at every turn by our little sister. Hilary's intellect, determination and organisational skills became apparent very early.

"As her brothers, we loved her dearly.

"She was good at everything she did, but her gifts for music, science and sport started to come to the fore - she was exceptional. In her late teens she began to get sick, but this had no impact on the pace she lived her life.

"As her illness took on, so she gradually lost her independence and her ability to fulfil some of her original dreams – each loss a small bereavement.

"But as we all know, her determination to move on and overcome these challenges was truly inspiring.

"On the morning of August 18, Hilary could not be woken and was rushed to hospital, not for the first time, with her dear friends Toby and Louise by her side.

"As Toby later wrote, Hilary did spend a great deal of time in hospitals and was not keen on being there. As soon as she was able, Hilary would browbeat her doctors to discharge her. She was good at it.

"This occasion, sadly, was the one time she didn't wake up and so couldn't talk her way out.

"Hilary, our hearts are breaking. We miss you beyond words.

"But thank you for giving us a beacon of hope, setting an example of how to make suffering a gift, and for challenging us to take your dream forward while you sail on, still ahead of us."

Hilary was buried in a wicker coffin, covered in an array of flowers.

During the course of the service, her loved ones laid treasured items on the coffin. Her godparents placed two bibles they had given to Hilary, a practising Christian.

A collar belonging to her beloved pets was also laid on the coffin, as was a rubber duck which was left by former music teachers – who fondly remembered risqué jokes Hilary loved to tell, one of which involved a rubber duck.

Tributes to Hilary were also given by BBC broadcast journalist Andrew Peach who befriended her while studying at Oxford, and Andrew Pindar, who sponsored Hilary on several of her sailing expeditions.

Guests at today's service were asked to wear something bright, in celebration of Hilary's inspirational spirit.

A memorial service will also be held at Jesus College, Oxford in due course, for those unable to attend today's service.

For more information, visit hilary-lister.muchloved.com.