East ward ho!

Later this year, Andy Mountain will swap the cosy world of tracks and signals for the unpredictable demands of open water and the elements when he takes part in the Clipper round-the-world yacht race. The 49-year-old transport head at Franklin + Andrews only started sailing six years ago, but is confident about braving the extremes of the Atlantic and Indian oceans on his three-month adventure. We spoke to him about his expectations of the trip.

Why did you decide to take this on? I saw an advert for the race a couple of years ago. I had been doing a fair amount of sailing since I started in 1999 and was interested in the challenge of the hostile environment – and the hard bloody work it will take. It certainly beats Qs-ing! Joking apart, I’m interested in collaborative working.

What will you do to prepare? There are three separate parts to the training. The first, which I have already completed, checks out your seaworthiness to find out whether you are really physically and mentally up to it. There’s another training session in May, then one in August.

What expectations do you have? I’m really looking forward to it – the big problem is coming back. Having talked to others who have done this, I’ve found they have had different reactions; some felt the experience got something out of their system, but others came back wanting more.

“The experience will certainly be physically demanding, but it can also be extremely boring. The problem is that you get so tired, the simplest of things become very, very hard to do. It sounds stupid, but after 36 hours of bad weather even tying your shoelaces becomes a struggle. Exhaustion becomes a big issue, so I’ve started a fitness regime.

Are your firm and your family behind you?

Very much so. The family will get a holiday when I finish in Australia so they’re looking forward to it! My 16-year-old daughter has just started sailing, so she is very interested in the whole thing. The company has been very good as well – initially we agreed to me doing the whole thing, but then we gave it more thought and agreed I would take off three months.

What is your aim for the trip? I’m hoping to become a watch leader, which is essentially the second in command – you’re in charge when the skipper is off. I’ve always been the sort of person who finds that, when I start something, I hate not knowing everything about it. I want to be good enough not to look a total idiot. When you get to my age, it’s easy to look back and think you haven’t learned anything since college.

The challenge

Andy flies to Brazil to take part in the second and third legs of the race. In three months, he and the team will cover nearly 9,000 nautical miles as they sail to Freemantle, Australia – including the treacherous passage around the Cape of Good Hope. “If I’m going to do it, I might as well do the hard bit. I’m never going to do it again after all.”

Andy will be raising money for Alzheimers UK and Cancer Research. If you’d like to sponsor his trip, you can contact him at: Andy.Mountain@franklinandrews.com