The Challenge

When Chay Blyth sailed round the world against the prevailing winds and currents, it was dubbed "the impossible voyage". Twenty years after this feat, Blyth had the idea of building ten yachts and training 140 people to race along the same route - most of thm novices who had never sailed a boat before. Chay Blyth and Elaine Thompson relate the story of the British Steel Challenge, and how the amateur crews and the professionals behind them rose to the challenge. In September 1992, a fleet of 67-foot steel yachts set off across the world's most hostile waters. Their course took them past the Doldrums, across the Equator to the waters off Cape Horn, Tasmania, Cape Town and eventually back to Southampton. The nine-month voyage promised unrivalled adversity, yet what was first heralded as a reckless folly has become one of the greatest feats of seamanship in history. Chay Blyth is the author of "The Impossible Voyage".