Colonel Mike Brooke left Bosham Quay on Saturday (July 5) aboard his 19ft boat Theo's Future, accompanied by a flotilla of up to 40 yachts and cheered from the quayside by hundreds of supporters, including Falklands naval commander Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward.

Col Brooke hopes his three-month 1,500-mile voyage of discovery aboard his three-man boat – which is named after his blind 18-month-old godson Theo Holroyd who suffers from Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) – will raise £27,000 for eye research charity, Fight for Sight.

The charity will use the cash to fund a light scanner to help researchers find a cure for the inherited retinal disease that affects just one in 100,000 people.

"Theo is a wonderful little boy and an absolute joy to be around," said Col Brooke from Bosham.

"His family and friends want to do whatever it takes to help him to see and sailing around Great Britain is my way of helping. My goal is to raise £27,000 for Fight for Sight."

The exciting Caribbean-style launch party included a blessing of the vessel by Colonel Brooke's sister-in-law the Rev Jane Brooke, the vicar of Compstall, and it being officially named by his daughter-in-law Jayne Brooke.

The project to find a cure for little Theo is being scientifically led by Professor Tony Moore from Moorfields Eye Hospital.

He believes if he can track the ten genes to complete the vision link between the brain and retina, LCA sufferers will at last be able to see.

Col Brooke said: "The breakthrough is very exciting although a lot more work needs to be done before gene therapy will be available to treat Theo."

The sailor, who came ninth in last month's Round the Island race, will use the voyage to build links with institutions caring for partially-sighted and blind children including the West of England School and College for Children with Little or No Sight in Exeter.