A Liverpool Echo journalist is to compete in a round-the-world yacht race after covering a story about the event for her paper.

Emma Gunby was sent to cover the launch of Liverpool being the host city for the Round the World Yacht Race and got chatting to the race director – before volunteering herself to take part.

She’s now preparing to ride the waves on the Echo-sponsored Clipper on its first leg from Liverpool to Portugal.

Her preparations have included a week of training off the coast at Southampton which included a rough experience in a force nine gale.

She spent 15 hours being thrown around by 20ft waves, with rain battering down on her already sodden waterproofs.

Emma, (24), said: “We sailed from Southampton to Weymouth and were heading back when we got the weather warning message from the coast guard. We couldn’t turn back as it was too dangerous to have the wind behind us so we had no choice but to sail through it.

“Within minutes the relatively calm seas had turned into a scene from the film Perfect Storm. Waves the size of double-decker buses were tossing our 38ft Clipper racing yacht around like a toy.

“The rain and mist descended, masking the land which we knew was only a couple of miles away.

“It seemed that the boat was about to capsize at any moment under the continual battering of the waves.”

Yet she survived to tell the tale, explaining: “I’m quite into water sports, especially wakeboarding which is a cross between surfing and water skiing but I have never sailed before three weeks ago.

“I had a chat with the race director and volunteered for one of the legs. I imagined it being quite glamorous sitting there in a bikini.

“I’ve just done the second part of the training and it’s not glamorous! The skipper is an ex-Royal Marines’ officer and he was so eccentric. We have to get up at 6.30am and clean the toilets and below deck.”

She has completed a week of training at Liverpool and a week at Southampton and will be depart on Sunday, October 27 for the first leg of the race, which should last for five days.

She said: “At first I was thinking ‘why is this fun?’ but I’ve really caught the bug now. I know how the boat works and racing against other boats gets quite competitive.”