Donne senza confini

AROUND THE WORLD IN 71 DAYS

Ellen MacArthur, 29 years old, can be found in Guiness book of the records. On the 8th of february 2005 she broke the circumnavigation of the world record non stop in a sailing boat.
This is the interview for Serverdonne.

Probably if Jules Vernes had known Ellen MacArthur, the title of his famous novel would perhaps not have been “around the world in 80 days”. On the 8th february 2005 Miss MacArthur entered in sailing history by circumnavigating the globe alone in 71 days. Considering that sailing is a tipically male environment, this record has a special meaning.

When she was 8 years old, thanks to Cabaret, Ellen’s aunt’s boat, she bacame a passionate sailor. It was love at the first sight. Since that moment she has proved her determination, she wanted to learn to sail, to be on the sea, to feel herself free. It was not a simple goal, Ellen like all other people of her own age, believed that the only way to achieve success in life was to get a diploma and to go to university.
For this reason she made her best attempt to get veterinary. Suddenly Ellen became ill and during that awful experience she had time to reflect on her future and she understood that her destiny belong to the sea. While she was sick she watched the Whitbread Race, the historical regatta around the world for boats of 60 feet in lenght and she dreamed about being there one day.

Thanks to the money she saved and with the aid of her parents, at 13 years old, she bought her first sailing boat, Iduna, and at 18 years old she completed her fist personal goal, to circumnavigate Great Britain sailing alone.
In 2000 she became famous for her success in Europe 1 Man Star, regatta which involve sailing alone through the atlantic, from Plymouth (U.K.) to New Port (U.s.a.). But also in that period Ellen’s mind began to wonder about taking part in Vendée Globe, the most important regatta for single sail. An enormous mission for a young girl. She would have competed with the greatest sailors of the world who had important sponsors behind them.
Ellen did not have the necessary financial resources but she had determination. This determination was clearly demonstrated in the thousands of letters that she sent to potential sponsors. In her book “taking on the world” Ellen talks of many difficulties encountered before and during her journey.
In sailing sponsorship role is fundamental, there is a sort of personal relationship between the skipper and the sponsor.

“It’s true this sport just couldn’t exist without sponsorship” asserts Ellen MacArthur, “finding a sponsor can be very hard, no matter who you are, Kingfisher took a massive gamble on me and it paid off, but there was never any guarantee that would be the case. In many cases you need someone who can share this dream with you, it can be a long hard road to finding someone who will fund your compaign”. At 24 years old, Ellen became the youngest skipper to partecipate in the Vendée Globe setting the female record and coming second in the race.
“Paradoxically the conclusion of the Vendée Globe was the most difficult period in my life. I knew that my life would never be the same again”.
Ellen has become one of the most popular sailors in the world, always signing autographs, winner of numerous prizes like sailor of the year.
Her biggest challeng was achieved last year when she broke Francis Joyon’s record of 71 days, 14 hours and 18 minutes.
What has been the most difficult moment during the world tour? “during the last round the world record attempt on board B&Q Castorama, I rounded Cape Horn with a 5 day lead on Francis Joyon’s existing time. Along the coast of Brazil, the weather changed and the lead slipped away and we were behind again. It was a massive fight to get back on track and pull the time back. I look back now and think, wow imagine breaking it by 5 days, but sometimes that is the way it goes”.

On the boat Ellen must manage everything, from the electrical generating, to repairing the sails, the tactics. “I think you need the skill to get you to a certain point and after that many things come from luck being on your side, especially in sailing. Once you and the boat are ready you are often in the hands of the weather and the ocean, sometimes it can work perfectly and other times, it can all fall apart”.
Ellen MacArthur has short air, blue eyes, she is small but sturdy. How difficult is it to be a women in a tipically male sport where physical force is important? “I think it is obvious that no matter how hard I train physically I will not always be able to beat a man on the same level. It is a case of using your strenghts, working on finding other ways around the problem, if I improve my tactics, my weather analysis and my technical ability on board, then all these small things can make a massive difference in the overall picture. One of the greatest things about sailing is that men and women compete together on the same level. There are no special advantages for women over men, once you are out there on the water it is about your and the boat and nothing more”.
Ellen is happy to know that her success have inspired many people to discover and to try sailing themselves. Because of Ellen’s achievement those newcomers to the sport today, will have none of the problems which Ellen had to overcome.
“I think the more that sailing is seen by the public through the media on a global level, the easier it will become for people to break into the sport. But I think we have some way to go before that becomes a reality”.

At 29 years of age she would seem already to have achieved all the possible goals but it is not true. “The next immediate target will be the Asian Record Circuit. We will be aiming to establish a series of crewed records through Asia, passing various gates and ports including Qingdao, Shangai, Tapei, Hong Kong and Singapore. It should be a great cultural experience for the whole team, B&Q my sponsor has a strong base out there as well, so we will be visiting the various stores and getting involved in events onshore as well”.
Thanks to the sail Ellen has had the possibility to see some fantastic places in the world such as the ocean of the south emisphere with its untouched nature. In her spare time Ellen loves to get up early in the morning and go kayaking, cooking and watching movies. It was in looking for the impossible that Ellen MacArthur has realized the possible just like her grandmother who at 80 years of age graduated from university.

Federico Bastiani