Duran Duran star to relaunch sailing career in Glasgow

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POP singer Simon Le Bon is to face his old demons by competing in the same

608-mile yacht race in which he almost died 20 years ago.

The 46 year old will be in Glasgow on Monday to meet the crew - and it will be the same ones who were with him on his close escape on board the Drum in 1985.

Businessman Sir Arnold Clark now owns the £7million yacht and Le Bon will use Monday's event in Yorkhill Quay to confirm he plans to take part in the Fastnet Yacht Race in August.

It will be the first time Le Bon has been reunited with the 77ft vessel, which he owned at the height of his 1980s pop career.

The Duran Duran star narrowly escaped death when the boat capsized off the Falmouth coast after being caught up in bad weather in the 1985 Fastnet race.

The keel fell off, causing the boat to roll and Le Bon was trapped under the hull for an hour before he was rescued.

Le Bon, who sold the yacht to Sir Arnold in 1987, will borrow the yacht - now named the Arnold Clark Drum - so he can compete in the race.

Sir Arnold agreed to lend the boat when he heard the crew were racing to raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Janet Grosvenor, racing manager for the race, said: "We look forward to receiving their entry."

The Fastnet is one of the world's classic ocean races and the course's tricky tidal currents and changeable weather conditions make it a test for skippers and crews. About 250 yachts will leave from Cowes on the Isle of Wight on August 7.

Le Bon and Duran Duran recently stormed back into the charts with their single Sunrise.

Throughout the 1980s the Birmingham quartet were regularly at the top of the charts with hit songs, including Girls On Film, Rio and Wild Boys.

They performed in Glasgow in April last year.

Courtesy Glasgow Evening Times

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