The fleet looks magnificent in all its glory

Sir Chay Blyth

Family and friends were among the wellwishers who gathered at Southampton's Ocean Village for the start, while hundreds of pleasure craft took to the water to give contestants a fitting send-off.

The teams, led by specially selected professional skippers, are made up from an international selection volunteers who have left their jobs and paid �25,000 each to take part in the race.

The global course takes in North America, Australia, South Africa and Argentina and will run against prevailing winds and currents in some of the harshest conditions known to man.

Four years' work

Sir Chay Blyth, founder and executive chairman of race organisers Challenge Business, said: "The fleet looks magnificent in all its glory and it makes me immensely proud to be part of this.

"For the crew and skippers Sunday is the culmination of nearly four years of incredibly hard work and I wish them well on the adventure that lies ahead of them."

The round the world race lasts for 10 months

With all skippers determined to win the race there is a great deal of rivalry between the teams.

Skipper of BP Explorer, Mark Denton, said: "Although the race lasts ten months I think it's important to get an edge early on and show how my crew will perform throughout the duration of the race.

"I will be going all out on race start day to lead the fleet across the Atlantic."

'Excitement and adrenaline'

Many volunteers have left their family, friends and jobs behind for the 10-month trip.

Richard Thorpe, a member of the Invest Hong Kong crew, said: "There is lots of adrenaline and excitement and we are like excited children about to go on a school trip."

Round the world yachtsman Sir Chay Blyth is race founder

He added: "As crew we are up to a point in control of our destiny. For the ones left at home, they just have to sit and wait and give a big sigh of relief as they hear about our safe arrival."

Each crew will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology - including a global positioning system.

Originally designed for use by the US military, the system is capable of pinpointing a yacht's position with an accuracy of five to 100 metres.

Seven race legs

They will also have satellite phones which can handle voice calls, e-mails and faxes to contact their families back home.

This year's event is the second BT Global Challenge - the first being in 1996-97 - and aims to raise money for the race's official charity Save the Children through sponsorship.

There are seven legs in the race: Southampton to Boston, Boston to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to Wellington, Wellington to Sydney, Sydney to Cape Town, Cape Town to La Rochelle, and La Rochelle to finish in Southampton.

The first yacht is expected to arrive in Boston on 28 September after more than 3,200 miles sailing across the Atlantic.

The yachts stay in port for an average of two weeks before embarking on the next leg of the challenge.