TV presenter Nick Knowles has been announced as an ambassador of an epic tri-services round the world voyage.

Knowles will fire the starting gun of the Exercise TRANSGLOBE, an adventure which will see more than 500 Army, Navy and Air Force personnel take to the seas for a 13-leg circumnavigation on July 11.

The event is being organised by the Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre based in Gosport.

TRANSGLOBE spokeswoman Peta Stuart-Hunt said: “While Nick very much regrets that he can’t extricate himself from his filming commitments for long enough to actually sail on one of the stages of the Transglobe voyage, he is nonetheless delighted to lend his name as an ambassador, promoting and fully supporting the initiative and we’re proud to have him on board with the project.”

Exercise TRANSGLOBE launched in Gosport yesterday.