Vicki Green-Steel meets Abby Shoebridge, a profoundly deaf sailor who is taking part in the world's toughest yacht race...

WITH conditions ranging from the unpredictable calms of the doldrums to the gale force winds and icebergs of the southern oceans, the Global Challenge is certainly not one for the faint-hearted.

The race takes amateur crews against the prevailing winds and currents - the sailing equivalent of running uphill all the way.

Crews require lightning fast reactions to cope with the treacherous conditions and communicating with your team is important.

But for Abby Shoebridge, crew member of Southampton based yacht The Firm, the race is going to be an even greater challenge.

She is profoundly deaf and will rely on communicating with the rest of the crew by sign language.

"I have been training with the rest of the crew for the past three years," says Abby, 36, from Sholing.

"I can lip read, but if someone is a distance away from me it is far easier for us to use sign language."

She has taught the crew various signs including ones for sleep, tea, coffee, food, pull, loose, change, turn, winch, go down and watch.

Abby has been deaf since birth.

She was born with rhesus disease, a condition in which a child inherits a blood type from the father that is incompatible with the mother's.

She was very ill before and after birth and was premature and the disease also left her with slight cerebral palsy, which affects her balance.

Her interest in sailing was sparked when a deaf friend encouraged her to learn seamanship.

"I have always had an interest in water sports," she says. "I used to live in Guernsey and I learnt to windsurf and sail dinghies.

"My friend told me about the Royal Yachting Association's Sailability scheme, which gives disabled people the opportunity to learn to sail.

"I really enjoyed it and when the RYA said that they needed help in the office with general clerical work, I volunteered to do work for them.

"I had previously done an HND in fashion design, specialising in sports and leisure wear, but I had not been able to

find a job doing design work."

In1998 Abby won a place on The Grand Tour. She sailed to The Azores and Lisbon from Plymouth on the Ocean Rover for one month.

She enjoyed it so much that she put her name down to become a crew member for the Global Challenge.

She raised most of the £26,750 she needed to secure her berth by collecting door to door and from friends and family.

Taking part in the Global Challenge will be the longest time Abby has been at sea. The race sets off on October 3, from Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth and arrives back in Portsmouth on July 17, 2005.

The 12 yachts taking part in the race are identical and all crewed by a professional skipper and 17 amateurs from all walks of life.

Around 70 per cent of the crew members have never even set foot on a boat before they start their training.

"I never get homesick or seasick," says Abby. "I can do everything on the yacht that everyone else can and my disability hardly gets in the way of sailing.

"When it is a really dark night I can't do the watch as I can't see to communicate.

"Also, if the weather is really bad I can't be out on deck.

"Because of the cerebral palsy my reactions aren't quick and my balance isn't good.

"So I tend to spend time in the galley cooking, as I love to cook for the crew.

"They feel like my brothers and sisters to me now. They see beyond my disability, and treat me like any other member of the crew.

"The only problem they do have with me is that I snore loudly and keep them awake!"

Abby has spent £2,500 on a waterproof hearing aid to take sailing with her, as the spray and damp conditions can damage normal equipment.

She says: "Sailing has become the love of my life now and I have learnt such a lot from all the crew members on each of my trips.

"Things such as comradeship, coping in all weather conditions, being on watch, only having four hours' sleep at a time, working in the galley and all the other things that come with seamanship.

"To find that no one thinks that a disability means you are unable to bea full member of a crew is wonderful.

"It doesn't matter if you are deaf like me, or blind or crippled. Sailing is possible for everyone.

"It has given me a wonderful sense of freedom, comradeship, discipline, hard work and great fun all rolled together."

The Firm skipper Dee Caffari says Abby is a very valued member of the crew.

"Even where it is not practical for Abby to be out on deck, she more than

proves her worth as a member of the crew.

"Her cooking is fantastic and she really helps to boost team morale by baking cakes and biscuits.

"She is a great sailor and her deafness does not get in the way of her being a member of the crew."

Abby is still raising money for her place in the Global Challenge. If you would like to sponsor her, please contact Vicki Green-Steel on 023 8042 4711.

Website: www.thefirmracing.com.