Novice sailor from Leamington is one month into epic around the world adventure

Stuart Mace, 57, has arrived into the sailing hub of Punta del Este, Uruguay, completing the first of six epic ocean crossings of his epic Clipper Round the World Yacht Race circumnavigation.

Company director Stuart has swapped his busy life to spend eleven months racing around the world has arrived into the South American resort of Punta del Este, Uruguay, after spending a month racing 5,196 miles around the clock across the Atlantic Ocean.

On training, Stuart says: “The training is amazing, I have trained with three Clipper Race Skippers and the knowledge they pass on is second to none.

"The crew you meet become lifelong friends and since starting my training I have raced in some Royal Ocean Racing Club races too.”

Stuart is one of around 220 everyday people who set sail from Portimão, Portugal, on September 15 to Punta del Este in the first big test of the 40,000 nautical mile Clipper Race.

The race across the Atlantic is the first of six ocean crossings that form part of the eleven month event, which began in London on September 1.

Around 40 per cent of participants had no sailing experience before signing up for the four weeks of intensive Clipper Race training, and the crew hail from 43 different countries and all walks of life.

During the race Stuart and his 20 teammates on board the Dare To Lead team, have battled through storms, intense heat, rolling sea states and crossed the equator - a ceremonious milestone steeped in sailing tradition – to reach Punta del Este.

After a week-long break in Punta del Este, Uruguay’s upmarket holiday resort, Stuart and his team will be heading across the South Atlantic for Cape Town, South Africa, to embark on the second of eight legs next Wednesday (October. 23)

From Cape Town, they will be heading for Fremantle and the Whitsundays in Australia, Sanya in China, Subic Bay in the Philippines; Zhuhai and Qingdao in China, Seattle, Panama, New York, Hamilton in Bermuda and Derry in Northern Ireland before returning to London to complete the circumnavigation.

When Stuart completes the Clipper Race next year he will be joining an elite group - more people have climbed Mount Everest than sailed around the world.