Profiles

When, at the age of 26, Ellen MacArthur became the fastest woman to sail around the world, it was the culmination of years of hard work and determination.

Ellen's passionate relationship with sailing began when she was eight and stepped aboard her aunt's boat to go sailing on the East Coast.

Ellen with her parents

For a petite child growing up in Whatstandwell in land-locked Derbyshire, it was an exciting new experience - and it would turn into a lifelong obsession.

Over the next few years, Ellen saved as much money she could to buy her first boat, an 8ft dinghy.

She admits becoming 'a geek' spending nearly all her time reading sailing books at local libraries and trying to learn as much about the subject as possible.

Ellen's plans of becoming a vet hit the buffers thanks to a bout of glandular fever whilst in the sixth form, so she resolved instead to become a professional sailor.

Her career started with Ellen sailing single-handedly around Britain - an achievement which brought her the title of BT/JYA Young Sailor of the Year.

"On the Vendée I had a picture book of the Derbyshire countryside with all sorts of photos - from Matlock Bath and parts of the Peak District."

She also passed the Yachtsmaster Offshore Qualification with the highest possible marks in practical and theory examinations. Things were going well.

Ellen sailing the Southern Ocean in 2004

Despite such promise, Ellen found it hard to attract sponsorship to take her career to the next stage. Out of 2,500 letters to potential sponsors, she received just two replies.

In fact, she was so poor, she had to make her home a Portokabin during this desperate time!

Eventually, Ellen managed to raise enough money of her own steam to buy a used 21-ft Classe Mini.

She refitted the boat and raced it alone across the Atlantic in the 1997 Mini Transat race, completing the 2,700-mile journey in 33 days.

A strong effort from Ellen saw her finish first in her class and fifth overall - a performance which led to her being named BT/JYA Yachtsman of the Year.

It was also at this time that French sailing fans took Ellen to their hearts, giving her the official title 'Sailing's Young Hope. Since then, Ellen has enjoyed huge support in France, where sailing has a much bigger following than in England.

Global challenge

Kingfisher were impressed and backed Ellen to the tune of £2 million to enter the 2000/01 Vendee Globe with a brand new Open 60 boat - or Kingfisher as it was more commonly known.

"People often ask if I miss the sea. Sure I do - but when I'm at see I always miss the fields and farms so I think I take Derbyshire a little bit less for granted than I might otherwise do."

This was another moment of truth for Ellen. If she did well, it would undoubtably give her career a further boost, but if she failed it could set her back years.

She needn't have worried. As before, Ellen exceeded all expectations in the challenge.

Those who had predicted the 5ft slip-of-a-girl would struggle against muscular male opponents were silenced as Ellen finished the challenge ahead of all but one of her male counterparts - making headlines around the world.

Her achievements led to recognition in one of the most prestigious sport awards - she was voted second in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2001, an incredible achievement considering the awards are usually dominated by more mainstream sports.

A Rhum Do

But Ellen wasn't finished. In November 2002, she tackled the gruelling Route du Rhum once again - this time finishing first and breaking a number of records on the way.

Not only was she the first woman to sail to victory in the race, she also captained the first monohull to cross the line first, smashing the course record in the process.

But what must have been the absolute pinnacle of her career came in 2005.

Ellen celebrates in 2005

Sailing into the record books

Ellen MacArthur set a new record for sailing solo around the world - 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds - slicing more than a day and eight hours off the record set by Frenchman Francis Joyon in the previous year. She was no longer just the fastest woman or the fastest Brit to sail around the world - she became the then fastest PERSON to sail around the world ever - 27,354 miles at an average speed of 15.9 knots (although this record has since been reclaimed by Joyon).

And that distinction also earned her a Damehood.

Since then, Ellen has concentrated on other sailing projects and working closely with the Ellen MacArthur Trust - taking young people aged 8-18 sailing to help them regain their confidence, on their way to recovery from cancer, leukaemia and other serious illness.