A daredevil windsurfer is approaching the final stretch of his astonishing two year challenge to sail 18,000km round the coast of Western Europe.

Jono Dunnett, 44, started his incredible journey on the Norway Russian border way back in May 2017.

Over a gruelling 18 months, he has solo sailed along the coastlines of countries including Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Although briefly forced to stop due to increasingly dangerous wintery conditions, he expects to get back on the waters in March for the final push to his destination - the Russian Black Sea coast.

Along the way he is hoping to raise as much money as possible for the World Wildlife Foundation.

Jono said: “There have been some mildly traumatic moments but the worst bit is getting your head around what you’re doing every day.

“It is nice to be able to take a break because there are so many experiences and they all come thick and fast so you need some down time.”

In 2015, web designer Jono sailed into the record books by becoming the first person to windsurf around Britain solo.

The epic 98 day voyage, which started and finished in his hometown of Clacton, pales into insignificant compared to his European trip.

Jono, who learned to sail at Holland’s Gunfleet Sailing Club, said: “Part of the motivation was to see my country so it seemed the next logical step after that to see my continent.

“If you measure the point to point distances I have travelled around 15,000km so far and there are a few thousands left.

“The challenges at different stages are different. At the beginning the challenge was the loneliness and the isolation.

“Then in the Atlantic the problem was the seas.

“Now the challenge is the weather and the climate of Eastern Europe, I have been sailing when there has been snow on the ground.”

As he ventures further east, Jono also faces political problems.

He said: “The plan was to head south past the coast of Ukraine, but obviously that isn’t a good idea at the moment. Now I’m planning to go through Turkey and Georgia which brings its own problems.”

Along the way, Jono has been appealing for help from kind-hearted members of the public, and has been astounded by the results.

He said: “When I went around Britain I asked if people could sign up to offer me help, and many people did.

“I found out just how nice people can be so I gave it a go again.

“Although every nationality has their own biases, we all have exactly the same basic human emotions.

“There seems to be at the moment this tendency for people to look more inwardly. There seems to be a lack of recognition of big problems which are universal.

“That is why I chose to support the World Wildlife Fund, because they have a one world philosophy.”

Visit www.windsurfroundeurope.eu.