A WIRRAL roofer is preparing to take part in next year's the Round the world yacht race.

Les Perry from Barnston will navigate the Southern Ocean during the sailing challenge.

He signed up to take part after watching the start of last year's race in Liverpool.

Recalling how he got involved, the 59-year-old said: "I was given a birthday gift voucher by my sister Sue for a day's sailing on an ex-Clipper Race yacht on the Solent.

"During the day the crew explained how the yacht had circumnavigated the world five times and that the latest Clipper Race was leaving Liverpool the next day.

"I went to see the start of the race and sent off my application that very evening!"

He continued: "I was still in 'ocean sailing mode' from my trip the day before, coupled with the fact that I was sailing my own dinghy in a club race that afternoon, I just had to seize the moment!"

The Southern Ocean part of the epic circumnavigation will form the third Leg of the Clipper 2019-20 Race which is due to start from the UK in the summer.

Nicknamed the Southern Ocean Sleigh Ride, the course will take Les and crewmates through some of the most exhilarating and testing conditions of the entire circumnavigation as teams dip into the notoriously strong winds of the Roaring Forties.

He says: "I chose this part of the Clipper Race because in life I always have to take the most difficult path when facing a challenge, or go back and do it again if I choose an easier route.

"The Southern Ocean with its fabled huge waves and storms along with immense solitude; it seemed perfect. "Coupled with the fact that I would be sailing to Australia, where my parents took myself and two sisters way back in 1959 when I was only three months old, it was an obvious choice for me."

Despite a wealth of dinghy experience at a yacht club in North Wales, the Clipper Race is a completely new challenge for Les who cites sleep deprivation as one of the toughest parts to overcome.

In preparation for the race, Les will need to pass four levels of Clipper Race training.

He has already completed two levels of training and gained some further experience with a Clipper 70 delivery back to its home in Portsmouth, UK, after the race ended in Liverpool in July.

On his preparation so far, Les said: "The training has been excellent and I truly now have friends from all over the world who regularly update and communicate with me, and one American friend in particular sending highly amusing and lengthy blogs of his experience on board with us all."

Les took to navigating a heeled over Clipper 70 racing yacht quickly.

He explains: “The deck work was no problem to me as I am a roofer by trade, and so it was like walking on a roof, however getting about below deck and getting into my top bunk at 3am left me exasperated, exhausted and educated all at once!"

And when it comes to his friends and family, Les said: "Some of them are jealous, some of them are very impressed and the other set, including my Mother, just think I am insane!"