Edinburgh accountant halfway through round-the-world sail

An Edinburgh woman is over half way on an adventure to sail around the world as part of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

“I had done a bit of club racing and quite fancied an ocean,” said Gillian Donald, 50, a former accountant who used to sail regularly in the Forth of Firth as a member of Port Edgar Yacht Club. Ms Donald had initially planned to undertake her adventure when she retired in several years time, but an injury four years ago pushed her to take the leap sooner rather than later. “I tore the cartilage in my knee four years ago and it made me realise I wasn’t invincible,” she said. Ms Donald is now over halfway on the year-long round-the-world race, which set off from London in September. She has just passed through the Philippines with her boat, Imagine Your Korea. Applicants to the race are allocated one of the 11 boats to join, with the race open to all skill levels as each boat also hosts a professional skipper and first mate. Participants can join for the full round-the-world race, or just one leg lasting about a month. “I tried to think about which leg I wanted to do, but I realised that I wanted to do all of them... apart from the Pacific and Southern Oceans,” said Ms Donald. However she has signed up for all legs of the race, and said the Southern Ocean was “ok actually”.Of the 20 crew members aboard Imagine Your Korea for each leg of the race, about half will have joined for just that leg, Ms Donald said. Some others join for two or three legs, and there are eight doing the full course. “There’s a culture of inclusivity and participation on the boat. Everyone helps with the domestic duties,” said Ms Donald. “You can do almost nothing on your own, everything is a team effort on the boat.”Ms Donald has been stood down for a year from her work at Campbell Dallas accountancy firm, with an open commitment to return after the race. “They were really good about giving me that opportunity,” she said. While there have been “enormous challenges” associated with being on the boat – mostly in seeing crewmates get injured during rough seas – Ms Donald is enjoying the journey so far. “It’s been a massive privilege for me, and has been far more exciting and fulfilling that I expected it to be,” she said. “The experience has rubbed off some of my edges – you can’t hold grudges against others on a boat, there just isn’t space. I have the greatest respect for the people I sail with. I feel really lucky.”[email protected]