The brother of an Orpington sailor killed during the Clipper Round the World yacht race said being aboard his boat as it travels up the River Thames will be emotional.

Andrew Ashman, 49, became the first person to die in the race's 20-year history after it was thought he was knocked unconscious by a mainsheet during the competition's first leg off the coast of Portugal in September.

He was a crew member on the IchorCoal, a 70ft CV21 vessel, and had been due to complete multiple legs of the biennial race.

On Saturday his younger brother Keith Ashman, 47, will be climbing aboard the yacht as the 12-strong fleet sails down the Thames to mark the race's full circumnavigation.

Struggling to come to terms with his loss, he said he has become "totally absorbed" by the race - checking the viewer every four hours and reading every skipper's blog.

"It is my life at the moment," he said.

"I am quite scared about July 30 - about how I am going to be after. The bit I am not looking forward to is when it is done - it has been an intense 11 months. It will be emotional, but good."

Last year Keith Ashman was in London to see his brother off on the adventure of a lifetime, and said the paramedic, who worked for the London Ambulance Service for more than 20 years, was "so happy".

The project manager said every year he normally works that weekend, but a number of things allowed him to be with his brother.

"I spent the best part of the day with him - I do not necessarily believe in fate, but if the job had not been cancelled I would have been in Scotland and I would not have seen him," he added.

Days after he waved his brother off, Keith was told Andrew had been fatally injured at sea.

"I can't tell you how I felt," he said fighting back tears.

"In my head it is still that it has not happened, because of how and where it happened. There is no good way to die. If someone is ill you can be with them and see that through," he said.

"If someone gets knocked down there is a place - but because it was so many miles away it did not make sense and it still does not make sense.

"I think about it every day. I still expect to see him on the boat, even though he is not going to be there."

Following the incident on deck, Andrew was given immediate medical assistance, but despite the crew's resuscitation attempts he did not regain consciousness.

"I felt so awful for the crew, these are normal people - they then had to spend 20 hours with him. That is ridiculous that they had to go through that. I just wanted to tell them I was sorry," he said.

Keith said he was "really, really pleased" they decided to carry on with the race and that his brother would have wanted them to complete the journey around the world.

And if given the option between doing the race or living out his life at home in safety, Keith said his brother would have definitely chosen to stay on the boat.

"That is to be admired - a lot of people would not even get on the boat and take that challenge. It would have been nice for him to do the leg - at least one leg instead of five days," he added.

Keith said he does not blame Clipper for his brother's death, calling it a "freak accident", and sailing a "dangerous" sport - adding that the ongoing investigation is about making sure the same does not happen again.

Tragically, in April, Sarah Young, 40, from London, was not tethered to the yacht and was washed into the Pacific Ocean off the deck of the IchorCoal - she was rescued and later buried at sea by the crew.

"I would hate people to be discouraged from doing it (the race) because of what has happened - I truly, truly would," added Keith.

The fleet will set off on the last leg from Den Helder, Netherlands on Thursday before making the 285 nautical mile journey across the North Sea to arrive in St Katharine Docks, London on Saturday.