Scarborough sailor to solo travel round the world non-stop on a yacht
The third edition of the Golden Globe Race is taking place today
A sailor from Scarborough is taking part in a solo non-stop round the world yacht competition.
From today, Guy Waites will depart from France on the third edition of the Golden Globe Race.
He said: "I'm not nervous or worried. I'm excited about it. It's going to be first and foremost the biggest adventure and challenge of my life. It's something I've been relishing for years and years and years, so I can't wait for it.
"It's a single-handed non-stop around the world race. You don't even get to stop off and enjoy places along the way. It starts in Les Sables-d'Olonne in France and it finishes there as well after 26,000 nautical miles of sailing.
"I've sailed the Atlantic Ocean single-handed five times and I've sailed around the world as part of a crew on a boat, but this will be my first time single-handed non-stop around the world. I'm used to spending large amounts of time on my own so I'm not expecting to have any problems there. The challenges are predominately the weather, particularly in the southern ocean.
"The biggest challenge is it's all about the weather. It's as simple as that. Most of the time it's not the wind itself, it's actually the waves that the wind creates because they very much affect the balance and stability of the boat and they can do a lot of damage. I've been almost dismasted in the Atlantic Ocean and I've been knocked down several times and I've also been capsized.
"Mental preparation began years ago when I first started to sort of dream about doing this and it is a dream for me. It's now a dream that's becoming a reality. I'll be drawing on my experience as a sailor for 30 years now. I'm not expecting there to be any problems that I can't deal with."
Scarborough Yacht Club and businesses in the town have been supporting him to help build Yacht Sagarmatha.
You can follow Guy's progress on his Facebook page. You can also find out more about the Golden Globe Race on their website and Scarborough Yacht Club also has a website and Facebook page too.