I am about to join Leg 2 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race for legs 2,3 and 4.

The Clipper Race founder and Chairman is Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail around the world, solo, and non-stop in 1967-68. He remains closely involved in managing many aspects of the race, especially safety.

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is between eleven 70 foot racing yachts over eight legs, and whilst the eleven skippers and mates are professional sailors, the yachts are crewed by twenty amateurs who have taken part in, and passed, four levels of intensive training (each lasting one week) in the lead up to the race.

Although this is a race between eleven identical yachts, safety is paramount. In my training this far, I have already experienced how seriously the Clipper Race team take safety on board. They are continuously applying lessons learned to further improve safety on board.

I have applied, and been accepted, to participate in legs 2, 3, and 4. Leg 2 is the South Atlantic between South America and South Africa, leg 3 is the Southern Ocean between South Africa and the west coast of Australia (one of the ultimate challenges to sailors), and leg 4 is west to east coast Australia. The three legs combined total 13,000 miles around the southern hemisphere of the earth. At the end of each leg crew spend a short amount of time in the stopover ports before the next leg starts.

The Southern Ocean leg offers some of the most exhilarating and testing conditions any sailor will encounter, anywhere. I will experience some of the most inhospitable parts of the planet where icebergs flow north from Antarctica, including gale force winds, huge seas and yacht speeds in excess of 25 knots (around 30 mph).

Although I am a qualified Royal Yachting Association Coastal Skipper and have been sail cruising on the west coast of Scotland, the Clipper Race takes place on a bigger yacht in more extreme conditions. For much of the time in the Southern Ocean the closest humans to the yacht will be on the International Space Station rather than inhabited land.

This is a unique and amazing opportunity to develop personally, something that will be life changing, indeed something described by the Clipper Race team as: "the race of your life". Finding out that I had passed the selection process increased my confidence still further. I have no doubt this will continue and though the whole process will be challenging, there will be many positive outcomes, including being able to cope with extreme conditions and exhaustion, deal with difficult situations, develop leadership qualities, enhance team work skills, and become a more confident and experienced sailor.

In just over three years between 2012 and 2016 I lost all three members of my immediate family. I participate in the Clipper Race in their memory, and could not have considered applying to take on such a big challenge before now. Both on and off the water during this amazing adventure they will very much be in my mind and heart.

Why am I doing the Clipper Race: in memory of my family, to increase confidence and my sailing experience, to experience the Southern Ocean, to meet interesting like-minded people. In summary, to "achieve something remarkable".

I am able to fund the cost of the three legs, insurance, and some of the specialist sailing kit that is required. However, I am looking to raise funds towards the cost of the remaining kit, flight to South America and return flight from Australia, and hotels in the stopover ports. I have permission from work to undertake the trip, so I can now tell you about this amazing adventure :-).

Keep up to date with all the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race information and action on the official Clipper Race website, www.clipperroundtheworld.com/latestnews/, and follow the official social media channels such as Facebook.com/Clipperroundtheworld, Twitter.com/ClipperRace, Instagram.com/ClipperRace, YouTube.com/ClipperRTW, and #ClipperRace

Thank you for reading my story and for your support in whatever form that might take.

Rachel U. Leader