A 65-YEAR-OLD Newcastle man is set to take part in a round the world yacht race – despite only ever having been sailing once before.

Richard Dawson, who recently retired from an executive position at Etihad Airlines, will start the Clipper circumnavigation of the globe in August.

The ninth Clipper race, the world’s longest ocean course crewed by amateur sailors, will last 11 months and stretch 40,000 miles.

And with more people having climbed Mount Everest than sailed round the world, Mr Dawson knows he has a challenge ahead of him.

“I must confess to a little trepidation. At 65, it’s not something you take on lightly,” he said.

“There have been a number of injuries in the past, people with broken bones having to be lifted off the ship.”

While some choose to participate in smaller stretches of the race, Mr Dawson has put himself down for the whole course.

After covering the £50,000 cost of entering the race, Mr Dawson, who was born in Whitley Bay and now lives in Gosforth, Newcastle, hopes to raise as much money as possible for his local St Oswald’s Hospice through sponsorship.

“I needed a new challenge, something to keep me active after I stopped working,” he said. “Some people think I’m completely mad, but it’s just something I want to do.”

After his application, Mr Dawson was interviewed by Clipper to see if he was suited to the marathon voyage.

He said: “They’re looking for people who are capable of getting on in very difficult conditions. There are sometimes waves that are 40ft high.”

Mr Dawson, who worked in Abu Dhabi for many years before returning to the North East for his retirement, admitted he was worried about leaving his 90-year-old mother behind again but said they would stay in touch while he was away.

A fleet of 12 racing yachts will navigate the route this year, with around 20 people on board at any one time.

In the first stretch of the race, participants cross the equator and Atlantic Ocean to reach Brazil. From there, Mr Dawson hopes to travel to Cape Town and on to Australia.

The crews will then sail to Singapore, China and the West Coast of the USA, before passing through the Panama Canal and round to New York. Finally there is the homecoming stretch with a 22-day, 3,750-mile recrossing of the Atlantic via Northern Ireland.

Across the whole race, 600 people from 40 different countries will take part, making it the biggest ever.

I must confess to a little trepidation. At 65, it’s not something you take on lightly