I couldn’t let the end of 2009 slip by without looking back on what has been an incredible year!

BT Team Ellen has had highs and lows - success in the Fastnet, the Round the Island Race, the Artemis Challenge, the iShares Cup and of course the sad ending to the Transat Jacques Vabre but overall we managed to build up a team - both on and off the water - that we are all proud of.

Seb, Nick and I joined Nathalie Queré from BT for a very emotional get together earlier this month at the World Yacht Racing Forum in Monaco and it was wonderful to look back on a fantastic three years.

The Ellen MacArthur Trust Skandia Round Britain Voyage of Discovery was a wonderful experience for everyone involved so I would like to say a big, big thanks to all the team at the Ellen MacArthur Trust - Frank, Jo, Tracy and Simon - for such an incredible trip and many memories that we will treasure.

2010 already looks set to be an exciting year and we are now busy setting up the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to work on sustainability…but more on that next year!

In the meantime, I would like to send you all my best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2010!

Ellen

I just wanted to let you know that you will be able to hear me talking to Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow at 11.15. If you miss it, the programme will also be repeated the following Friday morning at 9 a.m.

You can go to this link for more details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr

I hope you enjoy listening and would love to hear your feedback

Thanks

Ellen

Here’s a reminder of what the last five months have all been about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XZfFCEL8no

A massive thank you to all of you who have been involved - you are very special!

Ellen

Ellen

This evening I will be speaking at BT Centre in London, kindly hosted by BT, and I was delighted to hear that tickets have almost sold out! There may still be a few left however so log on to www.roundbritain.org for more details or to find out about other venues I will be speaking at along the way.

Ellen

http://www.roundbritain.org/index.php/audience/

for further details. And if you can’t make this talk, hope to see you somewhere else en route!

Ellen

Ellen

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

I would like to invite you to come along to some talks which I will be giving in various locations around Great Britain to coincide with the Ellen MacArthur Trust Skandia Round Britain Voyage of Discovery which starts in May.

The aim of the talks is to raise awareness and funds for the Ellen MacArthur Trust and 100% of the ticket proceeds will go directly to the Trust.

These will be my first public talks since I finished the round the world record attempt and I am looking forward to sharing with you more about what I have been working on since then.

The first talk is in Brighton on 5th May at 1830 at the Brighton Hilton Metropole. For more information and online ticket sales, please visit www.roundbritain.org/index.php/audience

Look forward to seeing you at one of the talks!

Ellen

Last week saw some fascinating opportunities to discuss new ideas and expand on our knowledge database about how the manufacturing sector is trying to reduce energy use in its plants and processes.

We were up North for a few days visiting Liverpool and Nottingham. Our first assignment whilst up there was a visit, as a guest of E.ON, to the Pilkington Glass research centre on the outskirts of Liverpool. Everyone in the UK looks through glass almost every day of their lives, and I guess – as you don’t really see it (!) - it’s one of those things that you tend to take for granted.

On arrival at the research centre, I was amazed by the size of the company. There were close to 400 people working there, all studying the glass of the future. Trying to work out what the right glass is for the right environment. Everything from glass that lets the light in (i.e. for a solar panel) to glass that keeps the heat out, to glass that keeps the heat in, to glass that makes the water run off!

The process of making it is quite amazing and involves running the molten sand over liquid tin. The heat produced is absolutely incredible, with the actual building which houses the glass production having to be re-built every 13 years as it warps!  

I had not realised just how much energy goes into making this everyday product, and the more complicated it is, the more energy seems to go into it. As an example, toughened glass has to be heated twice, so has loads more energy in it than normal glass. Pilkington make single glazed, double glazed and a whole host of other types of glazing – including a really thin double glazed unit which had tiny dots in it that hold the glass apart. We could not have been made to feel more welcome, nor could we have had a better and more inspiring presentation about what the challenges are in that industry.

I also had the pleasure of speaking at the ACC conference centre in Liverpool that evening. The conference centre is an amazing place in itself and claims to be one of Europe’s most environmentally sound conference centres. I was speaking to members of the Liverpool Daily Post Business Club and some of E.ON’s business customers. It was an interesting audience, with a real variety of people, including Richard Farleigh (who was previously on Dragon’s Den) - who all had their own stories about the challenges and triumphs of trying to run more energy efficient businesses. 

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

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

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