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The adventure will then start for the crews on Good Friday 14 April 2006 in Plymouth, Great Britain, where they will learn who their crew and skippers will be during a special crew announcement. Over the next few days they will then complete their training with their race crews by sailing to Dublin from Plymouth where they will be welcomed by a ceremonial arrival in the exuberant Irish capital.

Teams will have a couple of days to finish off getting to know their fellow crew, planning their tactics and no doubt spending some time getting to know the local Dublin hostelries! The race then starts on Saturday 22 April.

The waters around Ireland can be challenging - for example the Fastnet Rock in the Irish Sea, which the crews will have to navigate around as a mark of the race. Plus, there are the tidal conditions present on the west of Ireland with the powerful Atlantic.

Sir Chay BLYTH CBE, BEM, executive chairman of race organizer, Challenge Business, commented, 'Our shorter races are extremely popular as crew can generally train and complete the race within their annual holiday - the Round Ireland Challenge requiring just ten days of holiday. However, they're still taking on a full-on challenge, learning something new, whilst meeting people along the way, many becoming life long friends.'