Blind sailor conquers her Everest

Mrs Dunn is hoping to raise £7,000 for Lymington Sailability club

A blind yachtswoman has become the first visually impaired person to sail solo around the Isle of Wight.

Alison Dunn, 39, who took up sailing as she began to lose her sight five years ago, completed the challenge in 12-and-a-half hours on Friday.

She was supported by a guide boat, whose crew gave her directions and warned her of obstacles.

The mother-of-two, from New Milton in Hampshire, said: "I feel today I've conquered my own personal Everest."

She added: "And also it's down to all the people who have helped me because without that I wouldn't have been able to do it.

"It was really, really hairy. It was windy out there."

Mrs Dunn completed the challenge in her 17ft-long (5m) trimaran Forest Venture.

She said that although it was not unusual for blind people to sail, they would usually sail with a buddy.

Mid-life crisis

Mrs Dunn, who runs the Lymington Sailability club for disabled sailors, hopes to have raised £7,000 for a new trimaran.

She said that her husband Keith and daughters Ann-Marie, 18, and Rebecca, 15, had been very supportive.

"They have been great but they think I have lost the plot and this is my form of a mid-life crisis, that I am just doing it to prove I can still do something," she added.