Nice shot of Ellen's boat

[Mark Prouty]

Team Ellen

In order for Ellen to break the record she must cross the line between Lizard Point (South West of England) and Ushant(North West of France) before 0704GMT on the 9th February, 2005.

A record only attempted fives times before in sailing history - only one sailor made the distance non-stop.
It will be extreme, it will be on the edge, it will be dangerous...
Success will be monumental - failure will be her constant companion.

Racing against the clock, no one else, just the time of the previous record, the pace is unrelenting...you push as much as you dare...

Ellen MacArthur, Skipper, trimaran B&Q


TIME TO BEAT...
72 DAYS, 22 HOURS, 54 MINUTES + 22 SECONDS

Current record set by French sailor, Francis Joyon, on board 90-foot multihull IDEC in February 2004.


WHY IS THIS RECORD SO EXCEPTIONAL...

1800+ people have reached the summit of Everest...*

450+ people have been in space...**

12 astronauts have stepped on the moon...**

Only 5 solo sailors have attempted to race around the globe non-stop on multihulls (the fastest and most extreme boats on the oceans) in pursuit of a new world record...

Only 1 sailor succeeded to go the distance non-stop...

Ellen MacArthur will become the next sailor to attempt this world record - the youngest in history to take on the challenge...


Ellen will push the boundaries of what is possible at sea and to push her own limits beyond those she has ever known before...

DATA FROM:
29/01/05 15:10:00
AVERAGE VMG (REQUIRED):
10.9 KNT

CURRENT VMG:
11.4 KNT

AVERAGE VMG (SO FAR):
14.2 KNT

POSITION:
8 28 ' N
031 38 ' W

MILES LEFT:
2,798

MILES SAILED:
24,243 miles
at 16.2 KNT

LAST 24HR:
327.7 miles

BEST 24HR:
501.6 miles

RECORD 24HR:
540.0 miles

MUST FINISH:
09/02/05 07:04

This is one big multihull!

[Sloop John B]

Looks like she's reefed down pretty good, using number 4 foresail, maybe number 5.

Looks a little nose high! Lets get an aimless discussion going whether she's planing or not.

[LCB]

In a time when so much is, in fact, beyond the individual, this is a personal quest that is worthwhile. It is attainable by the extraordinary ordinary person. Perhaps the costs involved place the venture beyond the average person. However one person convinced of their sufficient physical stamina, and experience, and truly processing such, can raise the necessary capital for a venture such as this.

Once underway the competition is primarily with ones self. Perhaps someone else has already accomplished what you are attempting. That only proves that it can be done. Now it is up to you to do it properly,, and best. Find within yourself the tenacity for one more knot, a few more seconds. Competitive to a degree few of us will ever know, yet attainable by almost any one of us.

I am a bit jealous of such people. I envy them. But I believe that I understand them, and for this I am grateful.

Russ

Another persons personal Quest. www.silentvoyager.com

[Sloop John B]

I'm trying to post an image of this tough little gal.

Holy Moley, It worked. I doctored it with Photo Shop so her face lights up.

I explored the site Mark brought up. Real interesting how she manages the day, especially sleep. There's a button for sending her e-mails. Her ground control reviews them and selects ones to transmit. She loves getting mail.

Mark, take a few moments and get one of those sea chanties off to her crew. Most of her mail is from the UK. I think she'd like to hear the MacGregor board state side has taken a keen interest.

Sloop

[Ralf]

Right now she's 2 days & 18 hours ahead of the previous record holder, has 964 miles to go and is becalmed with bad head on weather in the forecast. COME ON, get a break from somewhere!

[puffect]

This probably has been posted previously...For real time tracking data, webcams, animated tracking and other info go to www.teamellen.com

[wayfarer]

71 days....

ABC News is covering Ellen's voyage tonight.

SHE'S DONE IT 7 Feb 2005 - 21:37
Ellen MacArthur has done it! Shes broken the non-stop singlehanded round the world record set just a year ago by Francis Joyon. Ellen sailed her 75 foot trimaran B&Q across the finish line off Ushant at 22hrs 29mins 17 secs on Monday 7 February in a time of 71 days 14 hours 18 minutes and 33 seconds, shaving over 1 day 8 hours off Joyons record.

[SPC Paul]

Outstanding! I've been following Ellen since I read about her in a sailing mag in Iraq over a year ago. That is one tough, crazy lady.

Way to go Ellen!

[Harry van der Meer]

It was nice to see a 26M among the yachts welcoming Ellen. This was on CNN this monring.

[kmclemore]

Yes, kudos to this brave lass... she's amazing!

I hear the Queen has named her a 'Dame'...
Of course, I already knew she was a nice hearty looking dame in the first place.

It was nice to see a 26M among the yachts welcoming Ellen. This was on CNN this monring.

[Chip Hindes]

Don't think it's an M. The wraparound, stacked, double blackout "windows" on the forward topsides are pretty distinctive, and I just don't see them here.

Gotta add though, an impressive feat by a superwoman.

[Harry van der Meer]

CNN had some nice footage yesterday morning. As Ellen sailed over the finish line, there was a nice white M on the bottom left of the screen greeting her.

[Catigale]

That was me. I followed Ellen around the world sailing on plane in the 4th mode, but it is an , not an

(Now THATt deserves something from Mark......)

[Max]

Hooray...at long last a Brit has won something..our girl is just incredible! A comment from some of us in the pub (bar) last night was that if this had been an American, the boat would have been festooned with Stars and Stripes everywhere. Don't know whether you lot noticed but there was a distinct absence of Union Jacks! What's the matter with us Brits...sometimes some Brits hate celebrating incredible achievement. And then when we do our press/media/'experts' are all too eager to knock our heroes down! It's started already with some parts of the media questioning if the achievement was not all it was cracked up to be.."look at all the nav stuff...I could do it if I had that gear.." etc etc etc was a typical comment. Jackasses (as you Yanks would say)...I don't think I'd have the balls to sail the Southern Ocean on my own in massive waves that can, at anytime, flip a multihull.
Thanks for all your positive comments over there!! What else from Mac sailors! I'm a teacher of 11 year olds and my class have followed Ellen from day 1. They've learnt so much from weather systems to areas of the world to understanding LAt/Long and boat technology. What is particularly pleasing is that some of my class are going to taster days at our local inland sailing centre..what better testimony to Ellen...the inspiration of kids! Rock on Ellen!!
Max

[Chip Hindes]

I would guess the absense of Union Jacks and anything else that doesn't say B&Q has everything to do with the sponsor. It's a Brit company; you suppose they don't want anyone to know?