A YOUNG woman from Nailsworth has set off on a once-in-a-lifetime sailing race around the world.

22-year-old Ana Downer-Duprey set sail from London to Rio de Janeiro on the first leg of an eight-part endurance race.

Her 40,000 mile adventure in the Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race will take her 11 months to complete, as she races from port to port across six continents, competing against eleven other elite teams.

After months of intense training, her family finally waved her off from St Katharine Docks on Sunday.

As the youngest member of her crew on a 70ft racing yacht, and having had no previous sailing experience, some tough challenges lie ahead.

But the determined young woman has already overcome some difficult challenges in life.

Aged 18, Ana suffered a sporting accident that left her leg paralysed for six weeks with a major brain injury, forcing her to drop out of Cirencester College, where she had been studying her for her A-levels.

Ana is half English, half Trinidadian and went over to Trinidad as part of her recovery and to spend time with family.

As she was finishing her therapy she was involved in a devastating car accident which left her in a wheelchair for two months.

She suffered a fractured pelvis, a shattered left shoulder and collar bone, extensive left leg tissue damage and severe trauma to her head.

Determined not to let her debilitating injuries hold her back, Ana overcame all the odds and made a full recovery.

Wanting to set herself a huge challenge, she signed up for the once-in-a-lifetime endurance competition.

“The Clipper Race is really important to me,” she said, “I believe that things happen for a reason and that everything works out, so I don’t regret the accidents and don’t wish I didn’t have them because my life has completely changed in the last four years.

“One day I randomly saw a Clipper Race poster and it sparked something, an inspiration, a passion within me, and that’s continued to grow.”

After the first stage ends in a month in Brazil, the race takes in South Africa, Australia, Vietnam, China, the US, Panama, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. The finish is in London next July.

Her family and friends threw her a leaving party on August 30.

Ana’s mum Jane, who lives in Nailsworth, said that while she would be sad not to see her daughter for almost a year, she was incredibly proud of the courage she’d shown.

“I was just so proud to see her take up the challenge. It was truly amazing to see Ana pick up her life after all that time with so much confidence,” she said.

“She is an incredibly positive person and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

As well as fundraising to reach her goal of £10,000 to fund the trip, Ana is also raising money for two charities that she shares a personal connection with - Acorn Overseas Charity for Children and Animals Alive.

Ana is raising money through the world's most popular fundraising website, GoFundMe, which has helped raise over £4.5 million in UK so far this year. To donate to Ana’s page, please visit www.gofundme.com/sailroundtheworld