Amateur sailing enthusiast seeks votes for once-in-a-lifetime race opportunity

Kevin Legg has applied to race one leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race – the world’s longest yacht race

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An amateur sailing enthusiast from Rochdale is hoping to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime global race – but needs your votes to make it happen.

Kevin Legg, 32, from Firgrove, has applied to race one leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race – the world’s longest yacht race – through Gore-Tex Experience Tours.

And Kevin – who has applied to race the fifth leg from December 2013 to February 2014 – needs as many online votes as possible to join the global event.

“To participate in it would be to make a dream come true,” he said.

“The race is the peak of what an amateur sailor can do. The fifth leg is an amazing route too.”

If successful, Kevin’s route would take him from Eastern Australia to Qingdao, China via Singapore and the Pacific Ocean.

The official Clipper race website describes the stage as being in ‘three distinct sessions’ in temperatures ranging from zero to 30 degrees.

Aboard one of 12 prestigious new Clipper 70 yachts, the route also crosses the Equator, which Kevin explained is an ambition for many sailors.

“It’s kind of like a bucket list thing for sailors,” he said.

“There will be plenty of initiations as you cross for any of the crew who haven’t done it before!”

Having lived and worked in Rochdale for many years, Kevin’s interest in sailing was sparked by a fellow drinker at his local pub – Firgrove’s Crown & Shuttle.

He explained John Roberts, who sailed when he was younger, bought a boat in Pwllheli, Wales, and after helping with his new acquisition, Poppy, Kevin became a keen amateur sailor himself.

He now sails aboard a new, bigger boat called Mojito, owned by an Ashton-under-Lyne couple, and also raced in the Round Ireland event last year, which he says taught him a lot.

“You’re not going to get much sleep on a boat,” he explained. “So you try to find a smile whenever you can.

“Whether that’s producing a box of Mr Kipling’s or sticking boggly eyes on the end of people’s wellies when they sleep, it’s all about keeping spirits up.”

Kevin is now appealing to the people of Rochdale to help him fulfil his current ambition by following the link to his applicants’ page and voting for him.

“It would be making a dream a reality,” he said.

“I’m just a regular Rochdale bloke and it costs a lot of money to do the Clipper race otherwise – it’s up to £10,000 and I can’t afford that so I need these votes.

“If people want to send a Rochdale lad to race in the Pacific and promote the town in a positive light to people on the other side of the world, I would be quite happy to be their ambassador!”

To vote for Kevin go to http://tinyurl.com/KevinLeggClipper and click the orange vote now button before confirming the vote using a link sent by email.

“As ever, people are cautious about entering their email address into anything such as this but there's no come back or spam mail received as a result,” Kevin added.

Voting ends on Monday 22 April.