Eleven young sailors aged between 18 and 25 have announced their bid to become the youngest crew to sail non-stop round Britain on 20 June 2004.

The record attempt will take place aboard Whitbread 60, Blueprint, formerly Intrum Justitia, which finished second in the 1993-4 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race and will be officiated by the International Sailing Federation and the World Speed Sailing Record Council.

The event is the initiative of Blue Box Sailing, which was set up by Jonathan Bradfield and Lisa Forbes to enable people to sail aboard professional race yachts. Bradfield and Forbes, both aged under 25yrs, wanted to provide the opportunity for other young people to not only share in the enjoyment of sailing a fast racing yacht, but to develop themselves personally through facing the challenges aboard.

This record attempt is especially challenging as the crew are not professional sailors, in fact for some this will be their first experience of life aboard a yacht.