Disabled sailor Geoff Holt launches 'daring' charity challenge

A record-breaking disabled sailor has described a plan to circumnavigate Britain as his "most daring and demanding" challenge.

Geoff Holt MBE, from Fareham, Hampshire, will set off from London in a powerboat on 13 May.

The 58-year-old, who was the first quadriplegic sailor to cross the Atlantic, hopes to raise £1.2m for his disability charity Wetwheels.

He said the journey, taking at least a month, would be a test of endurance.

Mr Holt was paralysed in a swimming accident in 1984 and uses a wheelchair.

In 2007, he circumnavigated Britain in a trimaran and completed his solo crossing of the Atlantic three years later.

He said this year's 1,500 mile (2,400km) "Finishing the Dream" challenge would involve "some of the most dangerous and congested" sea areas in the world.

Mr Holt added: "There's some really, really rough waters - the North Sea, going round the top of Scotland, that whole north-west coast of the UK.

"The top left corner of Scotland is called Cape Wrath and it's not called Cape Wrath for nothing. So it should be an adventure, exciting and I'm really looking forward to it."

Mr Holt and two colleagues will be driving one of the eight powerboats run by his Wetwheels Foundation, which helps disabled people to get on to the water.

Money raised from the trip will help fund four more boats, to be based in Northern Ireland, Wales, East Anglia as well as a roaming boat.

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