GAZETTE & HERALD: Round the world sailor Jon Duffield, is putting love for his new wife before his personal goal of finishing the Global Challenge round the world yacht race.

Mr Duffield, 37, announced his decision to leave the first placed yacht BG Spirit last Thursday.

This week re-united with his wife, Elena, 29, in Prague he said financial problems had been the biggest reason for quitting the race and his new wife needed him.

She has just been made redundant from her job as a producer at Radio Free Europe in Prague.

Mr Duffield, who works at Westinghouse Signals in Chippenham, also said he had missed out on several months of rental income because his house has only just been let.

Mr Duffield said his Russian-born wife never put any pressure on him to quit the race but he felt he could not carry on while she was facing an uncertain future.

"In the end I have to admit that there are in fact more important things for me than this yacht race, and right now I am needed at home," he said.

He signed up to do the Global Challenge in April 2000. To take part he had to raise more than £26,000 in sponsorship and it has cost him a hefty slice of his savings.

He met his future wife three and a half years ago via the Internet and they married in Prague last April.

Mr Duffield said: "I had a look at our finances and I didn't want to put me and my wife in a big financial hole. Reality has taken hold.

"Elena has been hugely supportive of me doing the Global Challenge and she never suggested that I shouldn't do it."

Mr Duffield also suffered a recurrence of a knee injury he sustained as the yacht sailed into Buenos Aires last November.

He was informed of his wife's redundancy when the boat arrived in Wellington, New Zealand, in January and said it was unexpected. He said he had been mulling over whether to pull out since then.

On February 13 Mr Duffield was part of the 17 strong crew who triumphed in the leg to Sydney when their 72 foot yacht arrived first in a thrilling finish.

He said it was hard saying goodbye to his crewmates who will set sail on the fourth leg from Sydney to Cape Town on Sunday.

He said: "They were pretty understanding and I had kept them informed of my thinking.

"It has been a privilege to sail with them, and I look forward to their future success and to welcoming them home in Portsmouth on July 16."

Mr Duffield flew into London on Saturday from Sydney and has been staying with his brother near Andover.

He is unable to live in his Urchfont home as it is rented out until July.

He flew out on Tuesday night to spend a week with his wife in Prague before returning to Wiltshire and resuming his job at Westinghouse who were only too pleased to welcome him back.

"They seemed quite keen to have me back quickly, there appears to be lots of work to do," said Mr Duffield.

Mr Duffield said the race had been a wonderful experience.

He said: "Winning the leg to Sydney and putting the team on top of the leader board was particularly special for me."

Challenge at sea after redundancy

WILTSHIRE sailors competing in the Global Challenge are enjoying their final days of rest in Sydney before setting off on the next leg of the demanding yacht race.

The teams arrived in the Australian capital last week but will be setting sail to Cape Town on Sunday in a voyage expected to take between 35 and 41 days.

Robin Hyde, from West Kington, near Chippenham, is in jubilant mood after his boat, BG Spirit, flew across the finish line in first place.

But Malmesbury man Patrick Green, on board Vaio, is lagging behind in 10th place despite setting out from Wellington in first place. He blamed a wrong decision over the weather system.

Mr Green, 59, said he started sailing when he needed to get away from it all and helped sail a yacht from Greece to Holland, and hasn't looked back since.

He then embarked on a Fastnet Challenge Adventure Sailing Trip in force nine gales. "I found myself wondering how much of that type of condition I could take, what were my limits? I was curious to find out." Mr Green then applied to do the Global Challenge. "I needed a change in my life, something drastic," he said. "It was now or never, as I will be over the age limit for the next race.

"Sailing has given me a whole new zest for learning. I went sailing with a friend and found myself nominated as navigator. I had never done it before but there is nothing like learning on the job."

Before he left, Mr Green said he was apprehensive about certain aspects of the race. "I expect to have highs, lows, be bored and be scared," he said. "It will be all the extremes of life pushed into one short timescale."

He moved to Malmesbury 25 years ago as a project manager for Phillips, now Lucent Technology, but was made redundant last year when the firm moved out of the town.

His three children Emma, Kate and Robin are due to fly out and watch him sail into Cape Town.

Competitors on board all 12 yachts have now sailed half way round the world. They are expected back in Southampton in mid-July.