Personal Blog of Ellen MacArthur

What a couple of days, incredible emotion, and a real feeling of making a positive move to make a difference. A group of us were in Liverpool to see a good friend and incredible person, Dan Monk, off on the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race.

Here’s what this is all about…

5 years ago, Dan first sailed with the Ellen MacArthur Trust. He was in the process of recovering from his first bout of leukaemia and came with us to sail for four days in the Solent. It was clear from Day 1 that Dan not only loved sailing, but really wanted to learn. The incredible thing is that the first report he wrote about his experiences with us was that he wanted to sail around the world one day!

The next chapter of the story is that Dan came back with us several times, keen as ever, before being diagnosed once again with leukaemia. He went in for chemo followed by a bone marrow transplant the day after the Round the Island Race he did with us in 2005… It must have been such a massive setback, not only to fight a life threatening disease for the second time, but to face the fact that the transplant was the last thing that they could do for him… I cannot begin to imagine how he must have felt.

Just writing this makes me feel quite emotional. I remember the trust video that Dan took part in over a year ago now, he was lying in his hospital bed looking terrible, saying he felt bad, but that it was going to get worse before he got better. I have so much respect for him. Going through that when all your mates are having their 18th birthday parties must make you feel pretty lonely…

But the story goes on, Dan came back after his transplant and is now well. Last winter he spent training at UKSA to get his Professional Yachtmaster qualification, helped by the Trust. He passed, and the cherry on the cake was then skippering the last Trust trip of the summer on one of the boats.

Not only that, but Dan then announced at the Ellen MacArthur Trust Ball last month, where he helped us to raise £79,000, that he wanted to sail round the world solo in three years. For me that was it, he is an incredibly focused individual and I knew that he would follow his dreams.

So we came up with the idea to get Dan round the world in the Clipper race, which left four weeks after the ball!

Miraculously, and with help from some very special people, such as Frank who runs the Trust, JP Morgan Asset Management, Musto clothing (my first sponsor ever!) and The Philip Green Memorial Trust, we made it happen for Dan.

What a fantastic way to get experience, to learn and time on the water to think about his trip. Our sincere thanks also go to Sir Robin and William Ward and their team at Clipper who worked hard to arrange for Dan to join the race at very short notice and have been incredibly supportive.

The atmosphere on the dock over the weekend was electric. The crews who are all amateurs were absolutely wired about what they were about to undertake. And they should be. They were about to sail around the world and that, in my opinion, is right up there on the list of amazing adventures and challenges no matter what you’re sailing on.

It was marvellous to be at the start of a round the world race where the people were so happy, so excited and so visibly overjoyed at heading off. The atmosphere was wonderful, the characters were fantastic, with stories to match.

Seeing Dan helm the boat Liverpool over the start line gave me goose bumps yesterday. What he has been through is already harder than we could possible imagine, but I have a funny feeling that the blond haired guy from Essex will be going somewhere further than our wildest dreams.

Having dinner with Dan and his family the night before the off, he was focused and excited, but incredibly, already talking about his solo trip around the world!