Personal Blog of Ellen MacArthur

Ellen in library at Anthony Gell School where she read about sailing as a child

I went back to school recently…literally!…with an impromptu visit to my old school, Anthony Gell in Wirksworth. It is now a specialist sports college and it was great to reminisce about the old days with Headteacher David Baker. I also went back to the school library to have a look at the books that I borrowed while I was there and which inspired me to sail! (see photo)

I also had the opportunity to go to another really interesting school in the area, Herbert Strutt Primary School in Belper.

18 months ago, the school moved from an old building in the centre of Belper to a new build on a brand site. Everyone, from Headteacher John Murday to the teachers and pupils alike, appears to have a real sense of pride in what is a very nice-looking building which has been designed to be as energy efficient as possible. In talking with the Head John, some of the key sustainable elements that have worked well are rain-water harvesting for loos, PV cells for lighting, bore holes for heating and hot water and effective double glazing.

However, the final element of the jigsaw needed to get the school to a carbon neutral position is a 25m wind turbine – and the school has had difficulties getting planning permission for this for the last two years. 

I have to say I really enjoyed these visits and it was really heartwarming to see two schools with inspirational heads who are working hard to motivate and to look after their pupils.

Ellen

Emotion, hope and silence is what I feel on the pontoons this morning. Not one person is raising their voice no one laughing… It’s only the cheering of the public which breaks that quietness as the skippers emerge from their final minutes of time on land.

The moment they step onto that walkway from the damp gravelly dockside will, they will hope, be their last second on land until next year.. and ironically if they make it their feet will touch that same identical spot, that same walkway from that same pontoon after over 80 days at sea…. I have done this twice now - once eight years ago when I took part myself and 4 years ago when I came to see the other boats off - and even for me hearing the noises, watching the expressions it’s hard to get my head around what is happening.

Each person watching is in awe. In awe as these 30 people will head to the bottom of the earth and back, solo, non stop… the realisation that their last moments of complete rest have passed until next year as their journey begins - though for some - they will not make it. All have hope, all will feel fear…even if, like me it’s stepping back into life at the finish.

Ellen

Here I am in Sables d’Olonne. I was here four years ago and at that time I was on standby for my round the world record attempt and four years before that I was here to actually take part in the race and that was an incredible experience in my life…

To do that at just 24 and see thousands and thousands of people here to see you off was just amazing. To come back after both those experiences almost as an observer is extraordinary - just to see the skippers and talk to them and know exactly what they are going to go out there and do is quite incredible.

I’ve got a lot of faith in Seb, we know he has a great boat, that we built in Cowes in the UK, he is a great sailor and has so many round the world’s under his belt and he really wants to take part in this race. When you look at all the different pieces that go into the Vendée, really wanting to be there on the start line is the element that plays a very, very important part in your result.

Thirty new boats is extraordinary and 20 new boats is even more extraordinary and there are even more nationalities than we’ve ever seen in the race, there are incredible projects, great competitors from all different kinds of sailing… You have Loick Peyron who completed the first Vendée Globe in 1989 and he’s back here again; you have the guys who have been racing Figaros for 5 years or more and have now moved into the IMOCA 60 class. You have all manner of sailors - ocean sailors, round the can sailors - and it’s going to be interesting to see who comes out on top…

Ellen

Eh oui, mes amis…last week I spent a really interesting few days in Paris. Rather unusually, we took our Extreme 40 catamaran to the world-renowned Mondial Motor Show to help raise awareness of Renault’s eco2 range of more economical and environmentally-friendly cars.

On Saturday, I joined members of the public for a fun and educational eco-driving awareness event organised by Renault in the Bercy Village quarter of Paris. Visitors to the event could practise on a driving simulator and take lessons with instructors from France’s national institute for road safety and research. It’s amazing but just by following a few simple rules, drivers can reduce their fuel consumption by around 20%. It was a real family-focused event with loads of great games for the kids - and for adults there was a competition to find the best eco-drivers - I was quite relieved to find out that I only had a 5% margin for improvement!

Everyone I spoke to said they had found the event really helpful and they left with some useful tips on how to drive in a more responsible way. If you’d like to find out more about eco driving, visit the following link:

http://www.renault.com/renault_com/en/main/30_DEVELOPPEMENT_DURABLE/40_Performances/40_Societal/25_Eco-conduite/index.aspx

Ellen 

I had a great day yesterday at the Southampton Boat Show - and it even stopped raining for a bit!

In the morning, I joined Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Lady Pippa Blake, actress Kate O’Mara (known for her role in the ’80s TV series Howards Way) and powerboat racer Steve Curtis on the main stage to represent boating through the decades since the 1960s. It was really fantastic to see Suhaili, Sir Robin’s teak-hulled ketch on display - what a fine, sturdy-looking boat she is!

It was also nice to see all the Team GB Olympic sailors led onto the stage by Ben Ainslie - they were looking understandably tired - it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for them - but in very good spirits.

I then had time to visit some of the stands and catch up with our sailing team sponsors, including Paul Honess at Marlow Ropes who has been doing some interesting development work with Yvan Joucla, our rigger on the BT Open 60, in preparation for the Vendée Globe.

I was also really pleased to go to Geoff Holt’s book launch. Geoff gave me a copy of “Walking on Water” when he kindly asked me to write the afterword for it and I have to say I couldn’t put it down. He really is the most amazing man and it’s a really incredible book. You must read it!

Ellen