Personal Blog of Ellen MacArthur

The two biggest boats in the BT Team Ellen fleet - the BT Open 60 and BT Extreme 40 - and all three BT Team Ellen skippers - myself, Seb Josse and Nick Moloney - will be out in force this week and it will be fantastic to have the whole BT Team Ellen team together in Cowes for a while. 

Nick will be skippering the BT Extreme 40 in the iShares Cup which starts tomorrow for three days and he and his crew will face some stiff competition from 10 other teams, including the America’s Cup teams of Alinghi, BMW ORACLE Racing and TEAM ORIGIN. 

Seb will be on the BT Open 60 competing in the Artemis Challenge race around the Isle of Wight on Tuesday 5th August, as well as taking many of our partners, media and the team sailing.   

For me, Skandia Cowes Week starts on Sunday afternoon with some sailing on the BT Open 60 with guests, then from Tuesday to Friday, I will mostly be on the BT Extreme 40, for some class racing in the mornings from 0945 - 1045 every day and then sailing with our partners and guests in the afternoon.

I am really proud that the Ellen MacArthur Trust was chosen as the official charity of Skandia Cowes Week. Having spent a lot of time over the past month sailing with the Trust, I can’t emphasize enough what a difference it makes to the young people recovering from cancer and leukaemia. A lot of the funds needed to arrange these trips came from the Trust Ball during Skandia Cowes Week last year and this time the Ball on Monday night promises to be even bigger and better, with around 600 guests. It is being held at Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s “palace by the sea” which is a truly spectacular venue - all we need now is some great weather!  

ellen