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Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur, DBE (born July 8, 1976) is an English sailor from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. She is best known as a solo long-distance yachtswoman who, on February 7, 2005, broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Racing career 3 Records 4 Criticism 5 Popular culture 6 Trivia 7 References 8 External links

She acquired her early interest in sailing by reading Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books and is the Patron of the Nancy Blackett Trust^[1] which owns and operates Ransome's yacht, Nancy Blackett. Her first experience of sailing was on a boat owned by her Aunt Thea on the east coast of England. She saved her school dinner money in order to buy her first boat.

She was named 1998 British Telecom/Royal Yachting Association "Yachtsman of The Year" in the UK and "Sailing's Young Hope" in France.

She first came to general prominence in 2001 when she came second in the Vendée Globe solo round-the-world sailing race in her boat Kingfisher (named after her sponsors, Kingfisher plc), and subsequently MacArthur was awarded an MBE for services to sport.

In 2003 she captained a round-the-world record attempt for a crewed yacht in Kingfisher 2 (a catamaran formerly owned by Steve Fossett and known as ´Orange`), but was thwarted by a broken mast in the Southern Ocean.

Her latest yacht, named B&Q/Castorama (after two companies in the Kingfisher group) and unveiled in January 2004, was specially designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret for her to break solo records. The 75-foot (23-metre) trimaran was built in Australia, with many of the components specifically arranged to take into account MacArthur's 5 foot 2 inch (1.57 m) height.^{[citation needed]}

Using the yacht, her first significant record attempt in 2004 to break the west–east transatlantic crossing time failed by around one and a quarter hours, after over seven days of sailing.

She began her attempt to break the solo record for sailing non-stop around the world on November 28, 2004. During her circumnavigation, she set records for the fastest solo voyage to the equator, past the Cape of Good Hope, past Cape Horn and back to the equator again. She crossed the finishing line near the French coast at Ushant at 2229 UTC on February 7, 2005 beating the previous record set by French sailor Francis Joyon by 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes, 49 seconds.

On her return to England on February 8, 2005, it was announced that she was to be made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of that achievement, becoming, it is believed, the youngest ever recipient of this honour. Coming immediately as it did (rather than appearing in due course in the New Year's or Birthday honours lists), this recognition was reminiscent of the knighthoods conferred upon Sir Francis Drake and Sir Francis Chichester upon arrival home after their respective circumnavigations in 1580 and 1967. MacArthur was also made an honorary Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Naval Reserve on the same day.

In June 2000, MacArthur sailed the monohull Kingfisher from Plymouth, UK to Newport, Rhode Island, USA in 14 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes. This is the current record for a single-handed monohull east-to-west passage, and also the record for a single-handed woman in any vessel.^[2]

MacArthur's second place in the 2000-2001 edition of the Vendée Globe, with a time of 94 days, 4 hours and 25 minutes, is the world record for a single-handed, non-stop, monohull circumnavigation by a woman.^[3]

In June 2004, MacArthur sailed her trimaran B&Q/Castorama from Ambrose Light, Lower New York Bay, USA to Lizard Point, Cornwall, UK in 7 days, 3 hours, 50 minutes. This set a new world record for a transatlantic crossing by women, remarkably beating the previous crewed record as well as the singlehanded version.^[4]

In 2005, MacArthur beat Francis Joyon's existing world record for a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation. MacArthur in the trimaran B&Q/Castorama sailed 27,354 nautical miles (50,660 km) at an average speed of 15.9 knots. ^[5] Her time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds beat Joyon's then world record time by 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds. On the 23 November 2007, Francis Joyon set off again in an attempt to beat the world record currently held by MacArthur.

Critics of MacArthur's voyage emphasise the vast, near incomparable differences in the technological capabilities of present-day sailing vessels against those used by previous record holders. ^[6][7]

In addition to this some commentators have found her personality challenging and overly negative. ^[8] Her temperament is something that forms the central basis for her caricature on the BBC satirical comedy show Dead Ringers. ^[9]

MacArthur was also the last record holder on Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car on the BBC's Top Gear television driving programme until season 8, when the rules were changed, and previous records were removed.^[10] The competition was a timed lap of a racetrack in a Suzuki Liana. She completed the lap in 1 minute 46.7 seconds, beating Jimmy Carr by 0.2 seconds.

• She is fluent in French.
• Asteroid 20043 Ellenmacarthur is named after her.

1. ^ http://www.nancyblackett.org/
2. ^ WSSRC Ratified Passage Records — "Transatlantic E to W, Plymouth – Newport, monohull and woman any vessel", from the World Sailing Speed Record Council
3. ^ WSSRC Ratified Passage Records — "Round the World, non stop, singlehanded, woman, Vendée Globe", from the World Sailing Speed Record Council
4. ^ WSSRC Ratified Passage Records — "Transatlantic W to E outright women, and singlehanded woman", from the World Sailing Speed Record Council
5. ^ WSSRC Ratified Passage Records — "Round the World, non stop, singlehanded", from the World Sailing Speed Record Council
6. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/sailing/4245577.stm
7. ^ http://sport.guardian.co.uk/sailing/story/0,10087,1407921,00.html
8. ^ http://sport.guardian.co.uk/sailing/story/0,10087,1407921,00.html
9. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050801/ai_n14828139
10. ^ Old Top Gear Celebrity Laps

• Ellen MacArthur website
• Dame Ellen MacArthur Trust Website — The Trust's aim is to support, empower and enliven children suffering from cancer or leukaemia by introducing them to the joys of sailing on the sea.
• Nancy Blackett Trust Website
• Biography on BBC site
• BBC News article: MacArthur sails into record books
• WSSRC — World Sailing Speed Record Council
• Ellen MacArthur World Record Photo Gallery
• Sunday Times article