'I needed a challenge'

Adrienne said the southern ocean was intensely exciting

A new campaign is under way to find Britian's most active adventurer over 50.

Adrienne Barnett, 60, from Chichester, West Sussex, could fit the bill after spending 10 months sailing against prevailing tides and currents for the BT Global Challenge yacht race and braving freezing temperatures for a seven week journey around the Arctic.

Despite sailing for the most part of her life, Adrienne was 56 when she first took up her toughest challenge of steering in the Atlantic back in 2000.

She said: "At the time I needed a challenge and the BT Global Challenge was the one thing that came up.

We had the sails up at one point when we shouldn't have done and there were huge waves coming in which were really strong and scary Adrienne Barnett Rippon seeks veteran adventurer

"I'd been the mother, wife etc and it was time I did something for me really. I needed to go to sea because I am a sea person.

"The strangest thing was raising the money for the journey proved more difficult than the challenge itself. I needed to raise £24,000 and it took me three years to do so.

Hair raising

"Still it did get hair raising when we were at sea at times. We had the sails up at one point when we shouldn't have done and there were huge waves coming in which were really strong and scary.

"When I eventually got off my knees were shaking.

"But the sheer excitement of the whole journey was fantastic. Going through the southern ocean in particular was intensely exciting especially when very few people tend to go there."

I was a late developer and I just went for it - it was just something that had to be done Adrienne Barnett

Adrienne, who has two grown up children, believes the 10 month journey changed her life.

She said: "It was far better than I thought it was going to be. It boosted my confidence hugely and I took a whole new view on life.

"I was a late developer and I just went for it. It was just something that had to be done."

But her journey did not end there.

Having tasted the waves of the Atlantic, Adrienne took up her next challenge - sailing the Arctic.

She said: "The cold wasn't too much of a difficulty because I had really good equipment. But it is tough in some ways because you spend so much time away from land.

"We also got stuck in the ice sometimes which was pretty hair raising but we always got out safely in the end."

Opportunity

With nearly three quarters of over 50s now seeking more action based activities according to new research, it is not surprising the hunt is now on to find Britain's most active middle aged adventurer through the Saga Endeavour Awards.

She encountered heavy waves during her journey

She said: "Nowadays people have such an opportunity to do things and there is no excuse for staying at home watching television.

"Particularly with my generation we had children when we were younger so it leaves us able to do more things when we are older.

"It is great that older people are doing unusual things," she added.

Adrienne plans to sail the Arctic again in 2006.