Young solo sailor Oscar Mead has revealed novel plans to raise enough money to enter a gruelling round the world yacht race.

This week/yesterday the 19-year-old Brit confirmed he will be going head to head with some of the best offshore sailors in the world in the 2010 VELUX 5 OCEANS race. Oscar has today launched the Team Oscar Mead 199 Club, offering donors a once-in-a-lifetime sailing experience in return for funding.

Oscar, the youngest skipper ever to compete in the VELUX 5 OCEANS, has already secured 40 per cent of his race budget from an unnamed sponsor. However with just six months left until the start of the 30,000-mile voyage on October 17, the race is on to find additional funding.

In a bid to raise the money in time, Team Oscar Mead is offering 199 limited places for supporters to join him for a day's sailing on his ocean-going Eco 60 yacht in return for a donation of £1,000.

Oscar said: "This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for people to sail an Eco 60, not with a reef in on a corporate day out, but fast and furious as I train hard for the VELUX 5 OCEANS."

"In return for a small investment you will get the experience of your life onboard my yacht."

Oscar hit the headlines last year after becoming, at the tender age of 18, the youngest person ever to compete in the Original Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR). He will put his yacht and powercraft design degree at Southampton Solent University on hold for a year while he takes part in the race.

Run by Clipper Ventures PLC, the VELUX 5 OCEANS starts from La Rochelle in France on October 17 and features five ocean sprints over nine months. After heading from La Rochelle to Cape Town, the race will then take in Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the US before returning back across the Atlantic to France.

If you are interested in joining the Team Oscar Mead 199 Club and securing your place on a thrilling trip on Oscar's Eco 60 yacht, email teamoscarmead@rocketmail.com or visit www.teamoscarmead.co.uk.