In January 2008 I decided I had waited a long time for things to happen in my life and it was about time I grabbed life by the throat and made a few things happy for myself. So I decided to take up a challenge of a lifetime and signed up as crew for the Clipper Round the World Ocean Race. The starting gun will go off in Hull, Yorkshire  on September 13th 2009 and 35,000 miles later we will return on 17th July 2010 having circumnavigated the globe. There are 10 identical 68ft stripped down yachts in the race crewed by amateurs like myself, with a professional skipper to head the team on each boat. I am one of the crew on Hull and Humber and am very proud to be representing the "home" boat.

So how come I have a page on Just Giving? My race is paid for, I am not asking for contributions towards any costs of my own. Shortly after I had signed up for the race, my friend, Tina Cook had an accident in a field with horses and suffered life threatening head injuries. Sussex Air Ambulance were called and took Tina to the Royal London Hospital where she underwent extensive surgery. The road to recovery has been a long one for Tina and the accident has left her without the use of her left eye and with substantial reconstruction to her face. But without the help of Sussex Air Ambulance I don't like to contemplate how different Tina's story may have been. Watching her journey and sharing some of the highs and lows with her along the way made me realise how special the opportunity I have is. I am extremely lucky, I have the resources and the opportunity to take a year out of my career and take up the challenge of a lifetime to sail around the world. Like Tina, I have my own horse and am very aware of how many "near misses" we have with our beloved equines, I have seen Sussex Air Ambulance at many events and am amazed that they are totally funded by donations.

If I can, I would like my journey to benefit other people, and so I decided to use the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race to raise money for Sussex Air Ambulance. There are 7 legs to the race so you can donate by leg, or for the whole race. I am signed up for all 7 legs and will experience extremes from intense heat and light airs of the  Doldrums in the Atlantic to the harsh conditions of the "Roaring Forties" in the Southern Ocean. The race leaves from Hull, we stop briefly in La Rochelle, France, before setting off on or first ocean crossing to Rio de Janerio in Brazil. From Rio we cross the South Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa and then through the Southern Ocean to Freemantle Australia for Christmas. From there it is North to Singapore, then the South China Sea to Quingdo in China before crossing the planet's largest expanse of water, the north Pacific to the west coast of USA. Then we hop through the Panama Canal to Jamaica, on to New York, Cape Bretton in Nova Scotia, back across the North Atlantic to Cork in Southern Ireland before returning to Hull in July 2010.

This is my incredible journey, I hope you will help me use it to support Sussex Air Ambulance and I ask you to make a donation by following the easy steps below.

The Sussex Air Ambulance, launched in June 2007, is now flying, fast, direct and unhindered at over 150 miles per hour and can reach the whole of the county within a matter of minutes. It carries a highly trained doctor and paramedic on board, who can treat and assess the patient and then transport them to the nearest major hospital or specialist unit, in a fraction of the time taken by a land ambulance. The charity does not receive any Government or National Lottery funding and with a yearly cost of £1.5 million or £4,000 a day, support from the people of Sussex is essential to keep it flying 365 days a year and give us all peace of mind should we ever need it.

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 for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.