No Regrets! Round The World Sailing Race.

I quit my job and sign up for a round the world yacht race.

I had a pretty good job, but I was stuck in a rut, in a city I didn’t want to be in. Life wasn’t what or where I wanted it to be!

Most of my spare cash went into sailing adventures, and through my sailing contacts, I entered the BT Global Challenge 1996. I only had enough money for the first leg, still, naively, I hoped to complete the whole race.

I sailed from Southampton to Rio de Janeiro which was an amazing experience. On arrival, the adventure continued, I travelled with a few friends to Iguazu falls. I saw huge contrasts between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay from a “camper” van.

I received an offer of a loan, from a friend to continue with the race. However, having no real idea what I was going to do when I returned or how I would pay it back, I therefore declined. I used my remaining cash to fly back from Rio.

Afterwards, I still hold onto an ambition to sail around the world. Since 1996, I’ve had a few different jobs, settled down, got married, had two children. Life has been pretty much everything I could have wished for. The dream of sailing around the world has been a big factor in planning for the future. It has given me additional purpose, direction and motivation.

Unfinished business

I think it’s a good thing to have an unfulfilled ambition. I often wonder what life would have been like if I had achieved my ambition at an early age. What would have motivated me and kept me going through those tougher times?

I’m certainly glad I took the risk once before, and still hope I will be able to find the courage to finish this journey when I retire.