Home and dry at the end of epic sailing adventure

And as they prepared for an emotional reunion with their families yesterday, the crew of Welcome to Yorkshire, the only English entry in the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race, were looking forward to nothing more than “a stable bed”.

Their arrival in Southampton, securing a creditable fifth place overall, marked for some the end of an epic, 40,000-mile circumnavigation of the globe, and entry into an elite band, as more people have climbed Everest than sailed around the world.

Others were completing no less memorable parts of the journey, having climbed aboard on one of the previous eight legs, but for all there was a deep sense of achievement and pride in having overcome great obstacles along the way.

Not least was a gruelling shift system in crewing the yacht, which at times afforded them a maximum of two hours sleep before they were put to work again, which could be changing sail on deck in a pitiless storm, preparing food in a cabin tilted at 45 degrees, or cleaning the “heads” (toilets).

They have all now, in sailing parlance, “got their salt”.

For Stephen Gardner, a 54-year-old managing director from Doncaster, there was the added thrill of completing legs three, four and eight with his son Kyle, 24, a property consultant.

“At the start on the first leg I was more worried about him, but towards the end when I saw he was a lot more capable than me I wasn’t so worried, about him anyway,” he said.

“The best thing was the camaraderie on the boat; meeting so many people from different backgrounds and walks of life was amazing.”

The adventure and shared experience has also whetted appetites for other challenges.

Mr Gardner said: “The thing I missed most was my family, that’s the one that’s difficult, but it certainly gives you a taste and we have just been discussing it with the others on deck – what do you do next? You certainly need something in your life and I’m sure I’ll be thinking of other challenges. You only have one chance in life.”

After nearly a year of fierce competition among the crews of the 10-strong fleet, they were able to bask in their achievements yesterday in a more leisurely Parade of Sail, with their great spinnaker sails flying, led by race founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on Suhaili, the boat in which he became the first person to sail non-stop, solo, around the world in 1968-69.

A day earlier Sir Robin had carried the Olympic Torch past the Cutty Sark on its journey through London.

In total, 500 people representing more than 40 nationalities – 40 per cent of whom had never sailed before – took a berth on one of the matching and stripped down 68ft yachts, which set sail from Southampton on July 31 last year.

A third of the crew on Welcome to Yorkshire were from the county, many deciding to take part after seeing the Yorkshire Forward-sponsored boat Hull & Humber perform admirably during the last two races.

Among those looking forward to the comforts of home was Wendy Tomlinson, 33, a physiotherapist from Hull, who joined at the start of leg seven in San Francisco, some 9,000 miles ago.

She said: “What I’m most looking forward to is probably a stable bed and just getting back to normal, family and friends and getting back to work.

“My biggest challenge was I’m really seasick so I have to be really grateful to my crew mates for helping me out during the hard times – hopefully I made up for it when I was well.

“It’s a big sense of achievement. Just living on the boat can be very difficult; when you’re at 45 degrees just making a cup of tea can be a challenge.”

She added: “I’m really proud to have done it on board Yorkshire, I was ecstatic to be on a Yorkshire boat, and proud of the rest of the guys, especially those who have gone round the world – that’s unbelievable, I couldn’t even think of doing that.”

Organisers estimate that the global audience of 1.1 billion was worth £23m to the region through the sponsorship of the yacht by county tourism body Welcome to Yorkshire. The boat was used to host trade events in Cape Town, New York, New Zealand, Singapore and Qingdao.

Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity said: “The yacht and our wonderful crew have done the great county and our country proud. The world is in no doubt that Yorkshire is a bright vibrant place to visit and do business and it’s been an honour to end our journey by leading the fleet home behind Sir Robin and Suhaili.”

The race was won by Gold Coast Australia, a second successive win for Australia following Spirit of Australia’s victory in 2009-10.