I am going to sail the Atlantic Ocean and I need your help!

My name is Antonella and I am going to sail the ocean with no experience or any knowledge of sailing! Am I mad? I’ll let you decide. I am nearly 50 years old, a nurse working in clinical research, a mum of three beautiful children and I do ride a motorbike!

For me, this isn’t just about doing something I’ll be proud of or having an exciting story to tell the grandkids in years to come; this is something more! It is also about that inexplicable and undeniable feeling we all get, something inside you that tells you to go for it and live the moment!

And why not join all of the above with a wonderful good cause? We can always make a difference if we want. One of my main goals is to raise funding and awareness about a very rare condition affecting children and more rarely adults – histiocytosis. My daughter was 1 out of 100.000 children diagnosed every year with this condition. She was only 8 years old when we found out. Likely enough, after 2 surgical procedures and several MRI scans, she fully recovered but many children are not so lucky and have to go through lengthy chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. Research funding is limited – I would like to raise as much as I can to support research in this field. Nevertheless UNICEF is near to my heart - with their amazing work they are helping thousands of children around the world, especially in Ukraine where children are suffering the consequences of a war. Last year, during the Clipper Race, £1.000.000 were raised for UNICEF. We can all contribute and make a difference!

I will be joining the Clipper Race, a circumnavigation of the globe on a 70-foot yacht. The race is divided into 8 legs, starting and finishing in Liverpool, in between is the world! The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a major global event with an audience in excess of half a billion people in more than 200 countries. This interest, and the publicity surrounding the Clipper Race and the crew who take part, generates a direct benefit to all those involved in the event at any level of sponsorship.

My mission is to sail from the UK to South America and then again from South America to South Africa through the Atlantic Ocean. The total number of nautical miles will be around 10000, the equivalent of 11507 miles! It will take just under 2 months to complete the 2 legs. Life on board will be really tough for a novice sailor like me - I will battle through 65-knot gales, struggle through squalls of stinging rain, snow flurries, sleet and fog. I will experience the emotions of untying my lines and saying goodbye to loved ones as I head into the drama of my first Race. I will start in front of the world’s media and tens of thousands of spectators - but here is the challenge - At the end of the day it is the race of my life!

Here is what I need to support the race of my life - I need to raise enough funding to pay the costs of an intensive 4 weeks training programme and the cost of my berth on board for 2 legs of the race. The total amount is £22000, the remaining £28000 will be donated to my chosen charities.

I will of course be contributing from personal saving as well as organizing bake sales, raffles, cooking nights, T-shirt sales and other events to raise as much as I can to support this challenge and my chosen charity.

Once on board I will set up a global fund-raising channel and ask all my supporters to donate a small contribution for every mile I will cover through the ocean! Every penny raised pre-during-post race will go to UNICEF and Histiocytosis UK.

If you can, please support me. Every little help!

Thank you so much x