After the untimely interruption to her circumnavigation of the world in July, Spirit of Cardiff will soon be on her way home.

When Steve Lloyd suffered a massive heart attack 350 miles offshore from Newfoundland, his crewmates Alan Priddy and Clive Tully couldn't conceive of a way of carrying on.

They were both utterly exhausted, and at the time they felt that even if they had the strength to continue as a two-man crew, it would be a hollow victory without Steve.

Since then, Alan and Clive have received many messages of support and bolstered by the recent news from the Union Internationale Motonautique (the international governing body of powerboating) that the clock was never stopped, they now intend to bring Spirit of Cardiff back across the Atlantic to Cardiff via Gibraltar.

This means that even with the two month hiatus before the final two legs, Spirit of Cardiff is still in the running to establish a world record for the fastest circumnavigation by a powerboat in the under 50 feet class, along with her final tally of 31 port-to-port records.

Original second-in-command Dr Jan Falkowski - forced to drop out of the crew three weeks before setting out in

March - will take Steve's place for this final chapter in Spirit of Cardiff's epic journey.

The routing will be as originally planned, from St John's to Horta in the Azores, and from there to Gibraltar, a total distance of 2,300 nautical miles.

Alan Priddy (Pictured with Steve, Left) will fly out to St John's on the 10th of September to ready Spirit of Cardiff and bring her round from the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club to St John's Harbour.

Clive Tully and Jan Falkowski will fly out on the 14th, ready for the Atlantic on the 15th.

Clive Tully's daily updates to the Spirit of Cardiff website www.spirit-of-cardiff.com proved immensely popular during the first 23,000 miles of the circumnavigation, and his postings will resume for the duration of the journey back to Cardiff.

Since returning home, Clive has started writing his book about Spirit of Cardiff's voyage, further details of which will be made available closer to publication date.

If there's anything you want to know about the project then email questions@spirit-of-cardiff.com