The Inventure has been specially adapted

He has been planning this voyage for eight years and hopes to raise �1m in sponsorship from it for the next adventure.

Mr Jones, a former Royal Navy helicopter pilot who is paralysed from the shoulders down, sails the 60-feet Inventure using a remote controlled joystick.

He said: "It was adapted so I could get on and sail away without any help at all from anyone.

"So we've applied what technology we can to do that.

'Aeroplane wings'

"The boat itself has no sails or ropes in the traditional sense, but a configuration of aeroplane wings up on their end which can be controlled by pushing a joystick and by pushing buttons."

He is accompanied by other wheelchair crew members.

Mr Jones broke his spine in a skiing accident while preparing for the Inter Services Ski Championships near Innsbruck in 1988.

The voyage began from Plymouth on 6 August.