AS I clung on for dear life I was surprised at how fear was suddenly overtaken by a desire to win.

Here I was taking part in an actual race, part of a world-class team, who were relying on me not to ruin their chances.

The sense of responsibility I felt was overwhelming and left me wondering what the hell I had got myself into, but as the klaxon sounded there was no time for hesitation and the adrenaline took over.

It was a truly surreal experience, bouncing from one side of the boat to another as the Red Bull team frantically battled to keep control and maintain their lead as we raced past the stands.

They pointed and I scrambled across the netting in that direction, praying I didn’t smash my head on the boom swinging above.

I must admit I wasn’t as graceful as I had hoped, and I have looked better, but I remained above the water.

More importantly we won our race making it the most exhilarating ten minutes of my life.