by Susan Hilder

Wet, cold and shaken but undeterred.

Canterbury quadriplegic Hilary Lister says her record-breaking attempt is still on track despite a stormy set-back on Friday night.

Hilary, 36, left Dover last month aboard her Artemis 20, known to her as Arty, in a bid to become the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain.

But as she sailed around the Welsh coast on Friday she came into bad weather sooner than expected.

She said: "We had sailed to just off St David's Head which is about four miles out of Fishguard, and the wind increased so I called for someone to come onboard and make the sail really small.

"It probably should have been five, but 10 minutes later we decided that this was getting a little bit rough for Arty and me, so we brought down the sails and picked up a tow - but we had a bit of trouble getting one of the sails down, which held us up.

"That crucial 20-minute hold-up meant that we were suddenly in very big seas. The problem is, when the wind blows one way and the tide is another, the waves get very short and sharp and choppy."

On Thursday Hilary had arranged for Fishguard Lifeboat to meet her at 10pm on Friday as there were some access issues with getting Hilary off the boat and onto dry land. But as time went on there was no sign of Arty and Hilary and at 11pm the lifeboat crew ventured out to see where she was.

Hilary told us what was happening meantime: "We took the decision to radio to the coastguard who I now understand had been trying to contact us but because of where we were they just couldn't get through on the marine radio or on the phone. It is a notoriously bad area for marine communication.

"We ended up being very grateful to see Fishguard lifeboat appearing through the dark. They stood off, we had a couple of plans to get me off the boat but in the end we decided the safest place for me and the crew member with me was on the boat."

RNLI Fishguard Lifeboat spokesman Peter Kedward 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."

Arty was towed to Fishguard where Hilary and her crew were met by an ambulance.

"Because we had called the coastguard there was an ambulance standing by. They gave me a bit of oxygen therapy as a precaution and took me to hospital to get checked out because I don't know whether I am hot, cold or somewhere in between. I ended up spending two hours being warmed through, and spent the remainder of the night with the team asleep.

"The Fishguard lifeboat guys were absolutely brilliant.

"I have to say, pretty horrible. We got very cold, very wet"

Hilary is using a sip and puff system to control Arty. Three straws are connected to pressure-sensitive switches - a sip on one takes the boat starboard, a puff takes the vessel to port. Another straw controls the winch motor for the sails and a third controls the Raymarine autopilot.

Hilary said: "We are trying to do something that has never been done using this technology before. I am trying to improve as a sailor and sailing catches the most experienced yachtsmen out occasionally. I was misfortunate enough to be caught out - it was partly my own fault. "We are trying to push the boundaries, we are going to have to attempt difficult sails in conditions that are more difficult than your ordinary disabled person would go out in."

This is Hilary's second attempt at her Round Britain Dream. The first attempt was called off in August because of bad weather and technical difficulties. She had reached Cornwall.

So what happens now?

Hilary said: "We just wait for the storm to go and pick up again."

It's hoped the attempt will continue in a few days in the direction of Wexford.

As well as aiming to break the record Hilary is hoping to raise money for her charity Hilary's Dream Trust which aims to introduce adults with disabilities to sailing. To keep up-to-date with Hilary's sail or donate some money to her charity visitwww.hilarylister. com