A RETIRED Malvern woman is leaving next week on the first stage of a round-the-world sailing expedition - and her cats are going with her.

Jackie Oakey, aged 62, of Malvern Wells, will fly to Spain to join the 12-metre Oyster ketch Songster.

The vessel is being skippered by experienced yachtsman Brian Palmer, with Jackie and gap year student Rhona MacCallum, formerly of Malvern Girls' College, as crew.

Jackie is taking her two Burmese cats, Henry and Lily, on the voyage and is confident they will adapt well to life on the ocean waves.

"A lot of yachts have cats on board," she said. "They get quite used to it."

After preparations, they will join the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) in November, an annual event in which more than 150 yachts will sail from Gran Canaria to St Lucia in the Caribbean, a voyage which is expected to take about 21 days.

They plan to ride out the 2004 hurricane season in Trinidad, before going through the Panama Canal on the next phase of their voyage.

Jackie, who used to work for Lloyds TSB and, more recently, Malvern Hills College, has lived in the town for the past 30 years.

She has been sailing yachts for years and last year toured the eastern Mediterranean, visiting Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Cyprus.

Family and friends are not surprised by her latest adventure.

"I think they realise it's just the way I am," she said.

Jackie said she was looking forward to the voyage.

"I've always wanted to go round the world and I'm really excited about it," she said. "I know there are risks, probably more than people who don't go sailing realise, but I'm still looking forward to it."