AN adventurous husband and wife are set to brave Britain's choppy coastal waters in the boating challenge of a lifetime.

Paula and Alan Williamson, of Rous Lench, near Evesham, are already in training to man the decks of a 72-foot yacht in the Round Britain Challenge.

The duo will be competing against eight other teams in a race around the British Isles. Remarkably the majority of their 15-strong crew have never before set foot on a boat.

The inaugural race, will be the first to see non-professional crews sail round Britain non-stop.

"There are men and women from all walks of life taking part as crew volunteers," said trainer Paul Scoggins, who is currently putting the couple through their paces.

"We've a head teacher, a car salesman, a Formula One engineer and a salmon farmer making up just some of the crews, so it's a real mixed bag."

Joining the competitors on each of the yachts will be a skipper and mate, who will be the only two professional sailors in each crew.

Paula, a 35-year-old solicitor and IT specialist Alan Williamson, aged 36, are now in their second round of training to prepare for the extreme two week race.

"Training was hard and really full on, but really fantastic," said Mr Williamson.

"We've been in training for the last six months and we've had three weeks on the boats practising drills.

"I think the hardest part of the challenge will be cold and lack of sleep.

"We've been learning to sleep in shift patterns of four hours at a time and also had a quick climb up a 95-foot mast."

Mrs Williamson said the experiences so far had been a "real eye opener" and she was looking forward to setting sail from Southampton on Monday, April 14.

The event will celebrate the 25th anniversary of legendary yachtsman, Sir Chay Blyth who won the two-handed round Britain and Ireland race.

n Alan and Paula Williamson are hoping that months of training will stand them in good stead for their sailing trip around the British Isles.