CAPTAIN Cook, Sir Francis Drake, Ellen MacArthur, Admiral Nelson.

The nation has produced some of the greatest sailors of all time and now a Bromsgrove man is aiming to step into this world of brave maritime explorers.

Bernard Doyle, a 63-year-old company director from Bromsgrove, has been selected to take part in the Clipper 05-06 Round The World Yacht Race.

Bernard will be crewing for record-breaking international yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in the first three legs of the ten month race.

"I am thrilled to have been accepted as a crew member for the 05-06 race and I'm looking forward to handling Clipper's new, bigger and more powerful boats," said Bernard.

"Sharing a 68ft yacht with seventeen others, in sometimes cold and uncomfortable conditions, is no mean feat and yet this is probably the best retirement present I could imagine for myself," he added.

The race is due to start from the Albert Dock, Liverpool, on September 18, 2005. Ten identical 68ft yachts, from the drawing board of celebrated yacht designer Ed Dubois, will then battle through Bay of Biscay gales before reaching land in Portugal.

The next part of the gruelling event will really sort the men from the boys as the crews race across the equator to Brazil. From there it's east across the South Atlantic and around the Cape of Good Hope for a ten day stopover in the South African summer.

The yachts then brave the Roaring Forties to spend Christmas in the Western Australian port of Freemantle. Bernard is due to leave the event in Australia after completing the first three legs.

The local man is no stranger to ocean-going racing. He has already competed in one round the world yacht race, he has plenty of cruising experience in Scotland and successfully completed the Fastnet Race in 2001 aboard a Sigma 38. But Bernard is now preparing for the 05-06 race with a programme of extensive training courses which will get him ready for the rigours of competing on a 68ft ocean-going yacht.