A grandad is battling high winds on the Atlantic Ocean after he set sail in memory of his late wife, three years since taking up the sport.

Barry Brixey, 60, of Hedge Place Road, Greenhithe, set sail from Cornwall on the Azores And Back yacht race (AZAB) to the Portugese islands to raise money for Cancer Research after his wife Frances died in 2011. She was 55.

Mr Brixey is also donating proceeds from the daring sail to The Lullaby Trust after his grandson Joseph Collins died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) when he was two months old in December 2012.

Sailing with his friend John Bidwell on board Team Swift, the pair are one of 68 teams taking on the popular nautical race from Falmouth to the mid-Atlantic and back, covering 2,500 miles.

High winds forced more than a dozen boats to retire from the contest but the duo reached the island eight days after setting off from the UK and are currently heading back to Britain where they are due to reach dry land next month.

His daughter Natalie said: “Dad had been thinking of a way on doing something a little out of the ordinary to raise money for a charity who work relentlessly to find a possible cure and to give those people with terminal conditions a quality of life with there loved ones.

“This is dads first time entering this race.

“There are lots of experienced sailors and yachtsmen who have done this race already but this is dads first and only race he has done sailing.

“Dad passed his skippers course about a year after mum died so has been sailing boats for about three years but has never done anything like this sailing the Atlantic Ocean for 10 days there and ten days back non-stop without stopping.

“Dad is doing this with his good friend John who is also doing this for Cancer Research in memory of his brother Peter who had cancer of the kidney.

“Mum came from Scotland but lived in Dartford for over 30 years she got on so well with everyone and was very well liked by the community that the day of her funeral about 180 people turned up and the police had to stop the traffic as everyone walked behind the hearse to the church.

“She didn’t realise just how well liked she was but we are so proud of dad taking on this challenge in memory of mum and Joe and John’s brother Peter.”

The dad-of-four, who has five grandchildren, worked as a project manager for a security compaby before he gave up his job to be a full-time carer for Frances six months prior to her death.

He now teaches sailing at Chatham Marina.

To support Mr Brixey you can donate online at www.justgiving.com/Barry-Brixey or www.justgiving.com/TeamYachtSwift-AZAB.