AS Urchfont resident Jon Duffield prepares to take part in the Global Challenge round-the-world yacht race in October he has one other small thing on his mind he gets married next month.

Mr Duffield, 36, a former pupil of Devizes School, was accepted as a team member of one of the crews taking part in the race in February, and has already begun preparing himself for the ten-month epic voyage around the world against the prevailing winds and currents.

But the arrangements for the race are as nothing compared to the hoops he and his fiance, Elena Vorontsova, have to jump through to make sure the ceremony, at St Clements' Anglican Church in Prague, in the Czech Republic, can go ahead.

Mr Duffield said: "At the moment we are having to work out what Elena's surname is going to be when we are married. Under Czech law, women have to add the letters "ova" to the end of their new surnames. So she could end up Elena Duffieldova. But if she wants to retain her maiden name she would be Elena Vorontsova-ova. It's very complicated."

Miss Vorontsova's status in Britain is even more unclear. Although she will be marrying a Briton, Mr Duffield will be out of the country for ten months during the race and her status in this country will just be that of a foreign tourist.

Mr Duffield said: "We want to come back to Urchfont for a few days after the wedding, so will have to make sure Elena's visa is all in order. Mind you, that is nothing to the guests who are coming from Russia for the wedding. They need two passports: one for journeys within Russia and one for journeys outside the country. And, of course, they still need visas."

Miss Vorontsova will meet Mr Duffield for a delayed honeymoon in Argentina in November when, hopefully, he docks there with the rest of the crew. "Neither of us has been to South America before, so we are really looking forward to that."

Before then, there is a lot of hard work for Mr Duffield and he has just completed a team-building weekend with his fellow crewmates on board BG Spirit, one of the identical 72-foot racing yachts taking part in the 33,000-mile race.

He said: "At one point we were playing touch rugby on the beach and I took the ball down to the edge of the water to try and score. Unfortunately, a wave came in just as someone tackled me and we both got very wet. It didn't do either of our mobile phones any good at all."

Yesterday Mr Duffield was due to take part in a one-day firefighting course at Plymouth Dockyard. He said: "We all have to train in one speciality each. I chose firefighting over plumbing because I don't want to find myself messing about with the toilets, or 'heads', with 30-foot waves throwing me around, and there is more chance of the plumbing going wrong than a fire breaking out I hope!"

The general public will have a chance to look over the participating boats when the fleet gathers at St Katherine's Dock in London from May 1 to 7. There is training from May 13 to 16 before the qualifying sail from July 3 to 11, when all members of the crew will have to show their ability to perform to an acceptable level.

Mr Duffield said: "That will be the last hurdle, to sail under race conditions out in the Atlantic, putting into practice the safety procedures and taking part in a final safety exercise. By then, of course, we will all be seasoned sailors and should be able to cope with anything they throw at us."

Mr Duffield is not relying on training days alone to get enough practice for the race. He and a group of friends race in smaller yachts around Poole Harbour and out into the English Channel.

Problems of finance have reared their ugly heads again, in the shape of insurance premiums. Mr Duffield has to pay his share of the cost of participating in the race, and was within £2,000 of raising the necessary £26,750.

Then he was hit with an insurance bill for £2,200. If anyone can help with sponsorship, ring him on his mobile, 07903 774242.