Blind father to steer hovercraft

Colin McArthur, 56, who has Retinitis Pigmentosa, will steer the craft

A charity worker who lost his sight to 20 years ago will steer a hovercraft on the Solent to raise awareness about his condition.

Colin McArthur, 56, has Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and will steer the craft past the yachts and ferries from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight.

Mr McArthur described piloting Hovertravel's 130-seater Solent Express on Monday as "pretty daunting."

Round-the-world yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur is backing him.

[I] went blind in the late 1980s - it was then that I vowed I would do my utmost to get my eyesight back Colin McArthur

The father-of-five, from Sandown on the Isle of Wight, said: "It's a pretty daunting prospect but people with RP have taken on all sorts of amazing challenges to help raise much-needed funds for our charity [British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society] over the years and I wanted to follow in their footsteps.

"I am looking forward to it - being out in the middle of the seas.

"It's going to be very scary for the pilot with me as it's a busy stretch of water but it's going to be good fun.

"As a child I had very poor eyesight and went blind in the late 1980s.

"It was then that I vowed I would do my utmost to get my eyesight back and worked in various positions within the charity to eventually become fundraising manager."

"This event is about getting RP into the public mind because in the near future we will need to start competing for government funding for further research and NHS treatments."

RP is the name for a group of disorders that cause parts of the retina to stop working, commonly leading to night blindness, tunnel vision and the loss of sight altogether.

The British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society (BRPS) is a self-help group, which helps members live with and overcome their visual problems and brings relief by launching research into the causes and eventual treatment of RP.

Giving Mr McArthur her support, Dame Ellen said: "Go for it, Colin. I will be looking out for you in the Solent when you are driving the hovercraft - you never know, I might be sailing past. Enjoy it."