BEER, baths and clean knickers are just some of the things that will be missed by one Lancaster woman when she sets off on the first leg of a round-the-world yacht race on Sunday. After more than two years preparation and training, 24-year-old Fiona Murray has joined fellow Nuclear Electric workers in Southampton ready for their attack on the BT Global Challenge in the aptly named yacht, 'Nuclear Electric'. Fiona, a maintenance engineer at Heysham One Power Station, is one of 12 staff "leggers" selected to take part in the race. She will be among the crew for the first leg from Southampton to Rio de Janeiro.

Vinn McGuire from Slyne-with-Hest, an industrial craftsman at Heysham One will join the yacht in Sydney for the fourth leg and David Watkins, first engineer at Heysham Two, will race in the final stage from Boston back to blighty.

Because of the lack of space aboard the yacht, the crew are only allowed to pack three pairs of socks and three pairs of underwear for the whole journey, along with major items such as wet weather gear.

Fiona said: "It's finally time for all the preparation of the last two years to be put into practice.

"I've worked hard and learnt a lot so now I just hope it's going to pay off over the coming weeks. This really promises to be an adventure of a lifetime for me."

A cannon will mark the beginning of the adventure at 12.05pm on Sunday as the 14-strong fleet of identical 67-ft racing yachts set out on the 30k mile 'wrong way' around the world race.

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