MacArthur closing on world record

Britain's Ellen MacArthur remains on course to complete her round-the-world voyage in record-breaking time.

At 2110 GMT on Monday, she was 22 miles from the finish line, and one day and nine hours ahead of Frenchman Francis Joyon's world record.

MacArthur must finish before 0704 GMT on Wednesday to beat Joyon's mark of 72 days, 22 hours, 54 mins and 22 secs.

The sailor is now expected to reach the finish sometime between 2200 and 2300 on Monday.

MacArthur lost ground on Sunday and she was only able to edge her B&Q boat another 30 miles towards the finish line off Ushant, on the French coast.

However, the Derbyshire-born sailor has been buoyed by stronger winds on Monday, which have carried her forward on record-breaking schedule.

The wind speed is expected to drop again after sunset but MacArthur's team have advised her to stick to a straight course all the way to the finish line.

Her shore team are waiting to greet her on the navy patrol vessel HMS Severn, which will follow escort the B&Q into British water.

MacArthur, who can also expect to be greeted by wild dolphins, admitted the distractions were beginning to build as she approached the home straight.

"I've got a radar alarm going off, there's a ship in the area, and I'm going to have to contend with ships right up to the finish," she reported on her website.

"There's a plane flying over me and I'm looking forward to being able to relax and not worry about the weather or boat speed."

MacArthur has been at sea for 71 days and is expected to be greeted by huge crowds when she sails into Falmouth in Cornwall.

And the 28-year-old admitted her thoughts have now turned to being reunited with those who are waiting for her on shore.

"I'm very much looking forward to getting in, to seeing all my friends and family and all the supporters," MacArthur told her website.

"It's been a very, very long trip and an exceptionally hard one."

When MacArthur set sail on 28 November she was under no illusions as to the enormity of the task that lay ahead of her.

Joyon's achievement in February 2004 raised the bar in round-the-world sailing. The Frenchman smashed the previous record by a massive 20 days and it was widely believed in the sailing world that his mark would go unchallenged for several years.

MacArthur has chased Joyon's record with a boat that is smaller, and therefore slower than his, although its lighter weight helps counterbalance that disadvantage.

However, the 75ft B&Q trimaran she has guided across more than 27,000 miles has been specially built with this task in mind.

And MacArthur is no newcomer to round-the-world sailing despite growing up in landlocked Derbyshire.

MacArthur first came to prominence when she finished second in the Vendee Globe round-the-world race in 2001.

Feted by French fans of the Vendee, her achievement caught the imagination in Britain and MacArthur finished as runner-up to David Beckham in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.

MacArthur won the gruelling Route du Rhum race the following year before setting her sights on breaking more records in multi-hulls.

owever, she failed in an attempt to chase down the Jules Verne round-the-world mark for full crews in 2003, as well as a tilt at the solo transatlantic record.

MacArthur has had to contend with extreme weather conditions and technical problems in her bid to better Joyon.

Mountainous seas, icebergs and gale force winds have threatened to capsize her boat - and she narrowly missed a collision with a whale on day 63.

MacArthur burnt her arm trying to stop fumes and heat leaking into her cabin early on in the race and suffered bad bruising after scaling the mast to make repairs on the return Atlantic leg.

MacArthur has lost ground since being five days up on Joyon's record when she rounded the tip of South America.

But she has already broken five records on this trip - beating Joyon's times to the Equator, the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin in Australia, Cape Horn and back again to the Equator.

Posted by Wintermute at February 7, 2005 05:19 PM