A PORTLAND sailor is battling intense heat and a long stint at sea in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Tom Way, 21, is now half-way around the epic 40,000-mile voyage and on a 4,500-leg of the race from the Gold Coast, Australia to Singapore.

Crewing on board the yacht London Derry, Way of Southwell spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve at sea.

Castle Cove Sailing Club member Way left the United Kingdom on July 31 last year after securing a media and race management internship with Clipper Ventures and will return on July 22.

He has crewed on four of the 10 identical 68ft yachts – he started the race on Qingdao, broke his nose on Geraldton during 30ft sea conditions, came fourth in race six on Welcome to Yorkshire and is now on the Irish-sponsored vessel.

His mum Jo Way, who is a keen sailor herself, said: “The last time I spoke to Tom was on Christmas eve before he set off.

“He’s having a good time, he had a few days off while in Australia and met up with an old friend.

“He’s now on his way to Singapore, this one is quite a long leg and it has the difficulties of being in intense heat with a lack of wind.

“Even compared to the Southern Ocean, which we all think is hard, this one could be even harder because it’s such a long hike and in different extremes.”

She added: “He’s due to arrive in Singapore at the end of January and he will be glad to get off.

“We’re looking forward to seeing him in July, we missed him at Christmas and stuck up a photo of him with a cracker hat on.”

In his last team diary on the Clipper race website, Way said his time on the yacht Welcome to Yorkshire had taught him to 'Play the hand you are dealt’ and to think positive.

He said: “Sailing tactics is a black art to many, no matter how many books they read the principle of taking into account wind shifts, tidal streams and other boats tactics is mind boggling.

“This is then amplified 10 times over when ocean racing.

“There is also the rest of the fleet to contend with: do you sail completely your own race, cover the boats behind you, protect the position you have and forget the boats in front or try and do a bit of everything?”

He added: “One of the big things we’ve learnt is playing the cards we are dealt.

“Work with it and hopefully things will work out your way in the end.”

Updates and further information on the Round the World race can be found at clipperroundtheworld.com