HE'S battled the elements in high seas around the globe but today stormy business waters proved too much for Sir Chay Blyth and he surrendered his business into the hands of administrators.
The lack of a major sponsor and cash flow problems knocked the wind out of the sails of the veteran round the world yachtsman's Challenge Business International.
Administrators are today poring over the books to see if the Southampton based business can be saved.
Once one of the most high profile sailing events on the calendar, the Global Challenge attracted big name sponsors such as telecoms giant BT, which were crucial to its success.
More recently, organisers have struggled to find a big money title sponsor and the last round-the-world race, which offered amateur sailors the chance to crew on a round-the world-race yacht, sailed without one. Similar difficulties led to the next event in 2008-9 being postponed.
Records at Companies House show Challenge Business International lost £620,663 in the year ending 2004.
The first Global Challenge race, The British Steel Challenge took place in 1992 to 1993 and the race has now been run four times raising more than £2m for charity Save the Children.
Nigel Morrison of administrators Grant Thornton said: "Cash flow became difficult to manage as the company entered into the autumn with very few events scheduled until next spring.
"Our intention is to establish shortly whether there is a possibility for a going concern sale of the business or whether it will be necessary to realise the assets of the company separately."
Sir Chay, who founded the firm in 1989, is no stranger to adversity. In 1966, together with Captain John Ridgeway, he rowed across the North Atlantic from Cape Cod to the Aran Islands in a 20ft dory. The journey was completed in 90 days and Chay was awarded the British Empire Medal. Five years later, aboard the 59ft ketch British Steel, Sir Chay became the first person to sail non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds and currents, which won him the CBE and the title Yachtsman of the Year.
His company runs and participates in a number of other yachting events such as the Round Britain and Ireland Challenge, Transat Challenge, the Rolex Fastnet Race. It also organises corporate yachting events. Their future is also unclear.
Challenge's assets comprise largely of the 18 bespoke yachts used in the Challenge series of events and include Aviva, the yacht that was recently sailed by Dee Caffari in her successful campaign to become the first woman to sail non-stop the wrong way around the World. Currently the Company owns five 67ft yachts and thirteen 72ft yachts, all of which have featured in the Challenge Series.
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