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Tributes have been paid to an “adventurous” amateur sailor from Highbury who died after being swept into the Pacific Ocean while competing in a global yacht race.

Sarah Young, who lived in a ground-floor flat in Calabria Road, was washed into the sea by a large wave as she tended the mainsail aboard a 70ft Clipper Race yacht last Friday.

A neighbour, who did not want to give her name, remembered Ms Young as a young girl growing up during the 1980s.

“She was an independent, personable young person,” she said.

“It’s sad what happened, very sad, but she was doing what she loved.

“She was an adventurer, and in a way this is the best way to go, I assume.”

Ms Young owned a company, Bespoke Establishments Ltd, providing lifestyle advice and services for the rich.

She was privately educated and studied at the University of Leeds before pursuing a range of passions including sailing, mountaineering, running and diving.

Taking part in the Clipper Race had been her ambition for years, and, after celebrating her 40th birthday, she set sail from London for “a year of challenge and adventure”, she wrote on social media.

It appears Ms Young had not tethered herself to the yacht with a safety line, as is standard practice for all crew members on the Clipper challenge.

In a statement, Clipper Race founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston said: “On behalf of everyone at Clipper Ventures, I am deeply saddened by the loss of Sarah.

“She was a very popular and integral member of the Clipper Race family and knew our boats well, having sailed with us since London last summer.

“The safety of our crew has always been and continues to be our main priority and we shall investigate the incident immediately.”

In December, Ms Young had taken a break from the race to be with her mother Thelma, 82 – who died that month – before rejoining the yacht.

Her father Robert had passed away a few years earlier. After the funeral she returned to Australia to rejoin her crewmates on the boat in order to complete her adventure.

Her neighbour added: “She wasn’t a very local girl. She was not the person that would hang out with people next door. But she had a very wide circle of friends.”

The 40-year-old had spent a year in Sabah, northern Borneo, working for the sustainable development charity Raleigh Malaysia.

She had been mountaineering in Nepal, completed a world-first 18-day trek down the Skeleton Coast in southern Africa unsupported, had run a marathon and qualified as a divemaster.

After Ms Young was swept from the boat, the crew immediately applied its man-overboard drill but were hampered by the stormy conditions, the team said in a statement.

Her body was recovered on board using the boat’s tracking equipment, and although resuscitation was attempted, she never regained consciousness. The cause of death is yet to be confirmed but is suspected as drowning or exposure.

She is the second crew member to have died on the IchorCoal vessel during this edition of the race.

Ms Young, who leaves a partner, was buried at sea on Sunday.

The 12 teams competing in the race held a minute’s silence aboard their vessels to remember her.