circumnavigation

Each participant must complete four weeks of intense training before taking part in one or all eight stages of the circumnavigation.

Starting and ending in Seattle, eight pilots and mechanics battled tumultuous weather, illness, fatigue and mechanical malfunctions during their aerial circumnavigation of the globe.

A retired navy officer, Mr Williams has spent his life traversing the ocean - including a recent single-handed circumnavigation of the globe - much of it with a feline companion by his side.

Flinders joined the navy aged 15 and he made several coastal explorations of Australia, completing the circumnavigation in 1803.

Will Harris is a British sailor competing for Team Malizia in The Ocean Race, which finishes this week in Genoa, Italy, after a 60,000km circumnavigation of the globe over the past six months.