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On June 19 I shall be sailing off on my 20-something Round the Island Race – the world’s biggest yacht race and Britain’s fourth biggest participatory event after the London Marathon and the Great North and South Runs.

About 1,800 boats take part in the J.P.Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race with 16,000 or more sailors, so I have some difficulty in winning but this year is special.

My crew includes my much older brother Chris, and two even older friends, Pete Gibbs and Chris Bull. We were hoping to be able to relax a little with the help of my neighbour John Stewart.  As a young (relatively) and extremely active rower, cyclist and computer boffin he was set to do all the hard work during the gruelling 50-mile race around the Isle of Wight.

John, his wife Catherine and amazing daughters Jessica, 14 and Esme, ten, have been battling with prostate cancer. During that time their family holidays have included cycling from Cambridge to Pontypool and back. So you can see the reason to have him on board!

You can hear John talking to Radio Cambridgeshire about his illness at

It is therefore doubly important that the rest of the crew raises as much as we can for one of the race’s charities – prostate cancer research.

You can see a video of the race at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_WIhzBolzs&feature=player_embedded You can follow the track of our race at www.roundtheisland.org.uk Follow the link to 'Tracking' and search for Viane. 

STOP PRESS We completed the race in 9 hours and 1 minute and 15 seconds which was corrected on handicap to 8 hours 39 minutes and 29 seconds. That put us 19 out 49 in our class, 80th out of 186 in our group and 438 out of more than 1,600 finishers. Thanks to John's inspiration this was one of our better performances and close to our personal best - the only record that really counts.

As it happens, the race coincides with the 40^th anniversary of my arrival as a trainee reporter at the Lancashire Evening Post. So to mark that unexpected achievement as well, please help us raise some cash by sponsoring us around the island.

As my wife Michele has just retired as chairman of the Friends of Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge we will give the funds to that charity designated to help prostate cancer patients.

Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust - ACT is currently aiming to raise £72,980 for an ultrasound scanner for the urology clinic. With the current scanners, the team are not always able to see the prostate as clearly as they would like, which makes it difficult to take precise biopsies.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thanks.

Bob Satchwell.