Broken back can't stop round-the-world sailor

A SCOTTISH businessman is to continue a round-the-world adventure just seven weeks after breaking his back.

Inverness-based Stewart Graham aims to complete the final leg of his journey from Thailand almost two years after setting sail on the quest.

He plans to take the long way home, more than trebling the 4,000-mile journey, to avoid the notorious Somali pirates.

Mr Graham, founder of the Gael Force Group, an international marine equipment business, and his wife Trish left Southampton on board the Rhiann Marie in September 2009. They have travelled 24,000 miles, crossing the Atlantic and visiting 26 countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Last month, Mr Graham shattered a vertebra in a motorbike accident in Malaysia and had two metal rods and eight screws inserted in his spine.

He said: "The challenge of sailing round the world came to me in 2005 just four years after sailing for the first time, and I'm determined to see that challenge through to the end."