It is one of the biggest challenges of the natural world and the supreme endurance test; 40,000 miles on an ocean racing yacht, circumnavigating the globe.
You will have sailed in all conditions from warm trade winds, through winter storms, tropical heat of the Doldrums, traversing the Equator twice and crossing the International Date Line.
You will have been becalmed, battled through 100-knot gales, struggled through squalls of stinging rain, snow flurries, sleet and fog. You will have experienced the emotions of untying your lines and saying goodbye to loved ones as you head to the drama of your first race start in front of the world’s media and tens of thousands of spectators.
You will have learnt to live life at a permanent angle, cooked meals to keep up morale when the going got tough, seen wildlife that few are privileged to see, sailed under a canopy of stars that took your breath away and watched dawns and sunsets that revealed our planet at its most beautiful.
You will have visited a number of different countries and been welcomed ashore with all the fervour deserving of long distance sporting champions. You will have celebrated at prize-givings, shaken hands with the great and the good, made friendships that will last a lifetime and achieved things that you never thought possible.
You will be fitter, healthier and more alive than you can imagine. You will have joined an elite club and, as you return to the point of departure and cross your outward track in the world’s longest yacht race, you’ll head home with a set of experiences that will live with you forever.
You will have become a circumnavigator.