A fleet of boats moored in Queenborough overnight ahead of a 40,000 mile race, and a Sheppey man is crewing one of them.

Twelve vessels taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race arrived in the harbour on Sunday evening.

The convoy was led by the British sponsored CV 26 Great Britain.

James Hendry, 67, from Halfway, is part of the British crew and will return in July next year after visiting 16 ports on six continents.

Members of the Isle of Sheppey Sailing Club (IOSSC) and the Queenborough Harbour Trust (QHT) pulled out all the stops to help moor the boats and accommodate the fleet.

The IOSSC also travelled with the convoy to the start line at Southend Pier on Monday morning, where they were joined by some of the Svitzer tugs from Sheerness Docks, which gave a water salute.

Sir Robin Knox Johnson, the first man to sail round the world non-stop and solo, founded the race.

He is patron of the harbour trust and stayed at The Royal in Sheerness on Sunday night.

It is the only race in the world where organisers supply the fleet of identical, stripped-down racing yachts, each sponsored by a city, region or county.

A fully-qualified skipper on each boat will lead the crews, which are made up of members of the public.

IOSSC’s Tim Bell said it was a really big deal for the club and something they were very excited to be part of.

“This is the first time Sheppey has been involved with this unique, high profile race,” he said.

“It was fantastic. We were thrilled to bits.

“Sir Robin said he enjoyed staying at The Royal and commented on how good the location of the harbour was and that there were not too many locations around the world that could accommodate this whole fleet of Clipper yachts.”