Daventry girl will make waves as one of the youngest women ever to sail the world

Sophie Cross, 16, from Lang Farm, Daventry, will be brought on board as part of a 20-man crew for the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race and will embark on her voyage in August 2019.

The 6th former signed on for the journey after undertaking a three-day yacht trip off the south of England last year - but is now prepared to take on the 11-month expedition.

Sophie, who has been a keen dinghy sailor since she was 10, said: "I'm just really excited. I think it's only just hit me what I'm actually doing.

"It's going to be a great chance to meet new people and see the world. I hope it will inspire other young people to do something with their life too."

Sophie and her crew will now face weeks of training over the next two years so she can learn the ropes of steering, sailing and navigating.

The yacht will stop in eight ports in its journary across the planet, including New York, Australia and China.

But it won't be plain sailing once she's aboard and Sophie will also have to help cook, clean and maintain the yacht throughout the voyage.

In the meantime, Sophie needs to raise some £50,000 for charity to take part in the race, in which she will compete against 11 other crews in identical 70ft-long skipper yachts.

But when she crosses the finish line, Sophie will be the youngest woman to ever take on Clipper challenge and one of the youngest people ever to sail around the world.

She said: "I still want to go to uni afterwards to study medicine. I just want to develop myself as a person and get some life experience."

Sophie's donation drive can be found on her GoFundMe page.