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	TX: 14.05.07 - Disabled Yachtsman PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON

	THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE 麻豆约拍 CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. ROBINSON In about 15 minutes time Geoff Holt, a disabled yachtsman, will set off from Southampton on a trip around the coast of Britain and he is aiming to become the first solo quadriplegic sailor to complete the 1600 mile journey in his trimaran, that's a three hulled boat, called The Freethinker. Tracy Clarke has been to Southampton to talk to Geoff Holt as he makes his final preparations. HOLT I broke my neck some 20 years ago so I'm paralysed from the chest down. I've got limited movement in my arms. So clearly the pulling in of ropes, the steering of a boat, is actually going to be quite tricky for me. Also I have very little balance, so I've chosen the Challenger Trimaran because being a trimaran it's stable; it doesn't throw me around all over the place. It's also very quick and exhilarating. And the main controls I have is I have a main sheet, which is the main rope to the main sail and a lot of people call that the accelerator; the more I pull that in the faster the boat should go and I have a tiller in front of me which if I move it left I go left. CLARKE Now you call it your personal Everest, why have you decided to do this now? HOLT Well I'm getting on a bit and I've been in my wheelchair 23 years now, which - I was 18 when I had my accident, I was a yachtsman before my accident, so I'd been heavily involved in sailing at all different levels and in '92 and again in '97 I sailed round the Isle of Wight and it became a bit easier in '97 and I just wanted to set myself another challenge. And to be selfish about it, it's sort of my - it is my challenge; I set it up for myself to prove to myself that I could it. But I've noticed in the last few months it's become much more than that; it's become an event where people want to get involved because they want to be involved in the bigger picture. We're raising awareness for disabled sailing for Sailability but like I say people are wanting to be involved - Rotary clubs and yacht clubs throughout the country are all volunteering their support. CLARKE Geoff is going to be followed by an on-water support crew who will monitor his progress. His condition will only allow him to sail for a limited period of time each day. HOLT My capabilities are about six to eight hours before I would start to struggle. I have two particular areas of concern for my own personal safety and health and one of them is pressure problems; sitting down in an unusual position for eight hours day can cause pressure problems. The other problems I face are from dehydration and exposure. So we work on the basis of six to eight hours a day is probably a good sort of figure, hopefully with the right tides, the right winds we should be talking about 50 miles a day. CLARKE Both Geoff's dinghy and his support group boat have been equipped with the latest electronics to help them overcome any obstacles he may face. Fiona Pankhurst from Raymarine explains some of the electronics. PANKHURST It's actually quite a tiny boat so we've had to be quite creative about what's going to go on there and what's going to be giving him the best information for what he's doing. The kind of boat that he has doesn't normally have any power supply on it so he and his shore crew have had to make modifications to it to fit a small battery on there as well. But we'll be giving him instruments where he can see how deep the water is, also how fast the wind is going, a compass so that he can tell which direction he's also going in and we're also going to fit a small chart plotter with a GPS, so it's really the marine equivalent possibly of something like a GPS navigation unit that you'd find in your car. CLARKE Geoff is married and has a young son but the family won't be left behind during the 60 day voyage, his wife Elaine and son Tim will be part of the support crew who will travel to meet him every evening. ELAINE HOLT As a family it's nice to be able to do something like this together and experience it all together, so hopefully it will keep us as a close knit family. CLARKE Geoff has been overwhelmed by the support he's received from the marine industry and his friends and family and hopes that he will do it justice. HOLT It really is very humbling really and I will do my best for them and I'll do my best for Sailability too who we're raising awareness for on the way round. And we hope that lots of people listening to this, maybe even disabled people, think way can I go sailing, you know, and Sailability and Hamble will be able to direct them to clubs and groups near them so they too can enjoy what I experience and it's a real privilege to be able to sail. ROBINSON Geoff Holt talking to Tracy Clarke and we'll be following his progress on his round the UK trip over the next few weeks. Back to the Transcripts homepage Back to the You and Yours homepage The 麻豆约拍 is not responsible for external websites

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