The French adopt Dame Ellen

by North Sails France on 13 Feb 2005 She's rosy-cheeked and 5-foot-2, and Ellen MacArthur is a lot tougher than me or you: the British solo-sailing wunderkind has just set a new world record of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds on her non-stop single-handed circumnavigation.

Queen Elizabeth described Ellen's achievement as ‘remarkable and historic’ and promptly bestowed the title of Dame (the female equivalent of knighthood) on the 28-year-old, the youngest person ever to receive the honour.

But only we sailors can fully appreciate what Ellen has accomplished.

First of all, Ellen's boat, B&Q, an Australian built 75-foot, Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret-designed carbon-fibre trimaran, is a handful for a full crew, much less a solo sailor.

The fact that B&Q blasted around the globe in record time speaks volumes for Ellen and her team's meticulous preparation.

B&Q's sail inventory, managed by Bruno Dubois of North Sails in Vannes, France include a 3DL™ TF2 mainsail, a 3DL Aramid 600L genoa, a Gatorback™ Spectra/Carbon working jib, a 3DL 860TF staysail, a Gatorback Spectra storm jib, and two very flat 3DL Gennakers™, an Aramid 600L for breeze work, and a 600L Code 0.

After sailing 27,348 miles, Ellen posted an impressive 15.9 knot average speed, 13.9 knot VMG, a best 24-hour run of 501 miles, and not a single sail failure.

Dubois also worked closely with the design team at Southern Spars to integrate the sail and carbon spar package for B&Q.

(North 3DL sails and spinnakers also powered the seven out of the first eight Open 60s in the single-handed Vendee Globe round-the-world race; the first five boats broke the Vendee record. www.vendeeglobe.org/uk/home)

On a personal level, Ellen has shown not only true grit but also an unassuming style.

In the world of sports heroes, it’s a refreshing and inspiring combination. (Speaking of inspiration, on her voyage Ellen received over 65,000 e-mail messages of support.)

The French, pioneers of multihull solo racing, have dubbed her ‘La Jeune Espoire de la Voile’—Sailing’s Young Hope.

Ellen’s motto is simpler—a’donf—in French, ‘go for it.’

We’ve been following Ellen via her website (www.teamellen.com), eavesdropping on ordinary days (‘I’ve gone off muesli bars and, unfortunately, I based my diet on eating a lot of them.

Worse than that, I’ve gone off porridge as well!’) and oh-my-god days (‘Everything is creaking and groaning and smashing and grinding...you go over three waves and close your eyes and hope it’s okay, then the fourth one...whack! I’m sure something is going to break.’).

In the end, the only major thing Ellen broke was the record.

Hey, Ellen— excuse us, it’s Dame Ellen, now—thanks for the ride!