Worthing couple join world yacht race challenge
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The couple lost their 13-month-old granddaughter Mariah to meningitis in 2009 and Helen is now an community ambassador for Meningitis Now.
They are taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, on legs five and eight, to support Unicef and raise awareness of meningitis vaccine programmes.
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Hide AdHelen and Carl own the new action sports shop, Adrenaline, in Ardsheal Road, and Kardinal Healthcare, in Broadwater Street West.
The race, an endurance test like no other, leaves from London on August 30 and is due to return next July after a record-breaking 40,000 nautical mile race around the world on a 70ft ocean racing yacht.
Helen said: “I first heard about the race when I saw it returning to London on the news last year. All is asked of the participants is a good level of fitness and a thirst for adventure into the unknown.
“It is an amazing opportunity to take part in the race and being keen sailors, we can’t wait to cross the equator and sail across an ocean.”
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Hide AdJoining a crew of 20 on one of 12 yachts taking part, they will sail from Australia to Vietnam, then on to China, for leg five, and later join leg eight from New York to London.
To prepare, Helen and Carl have completed four weeks of practical training, both theoretical and practical.
Carl said: “The training has been really intense, but each time we returned for the next course we were able to build on what we had already learned.
“Our last training course was on July 12, which covered 750 miles in some challenging conditions and involved taking part in two practice races in the English Channel between Britain and France. It was hard work but very rewarding when we won both races.”
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Hide AdUnicef, which has been helping children to survive and thrive through a combination of long-term development and emergency assistance for nearly 70 years, is this year’s official race charity.
It is the world’s largest procurer of vaccines for global immunisation programmes, protecting millions of children every year from diseases including measles, tetanus, polio and meningitis.
Helen said: “As well as taking part in the race, it’s great to be involved in raising money for a charity that means so much to us. Losing a child is a parent’s worse nightmare, not a day goes by that Mariah our granddaughter is not in our thoughts.”
Visit www.justgiving.com/Helen-Hancorn3 to make a donation.
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