Ellen MacArthur's 75-foot multihull B&Q arrived in Falmouth on Monday, 15 November to officially go on standby for her attempt on the solo, non-stop round the world record. Over 3 years of planning and 18 months since construction began, Ellen is now ready to embark on her toughest challenge so far...to circumnavigate the globe as fast as possible, on her own, to set a new world record.
Only five attempts to sail solo, non-stop around the world on board a multihull have been made and only one of those sailors made it without stopping. Frenchman, Francis Joyon, set a new world record on board his multihull, IDEC, of 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds...this is the time Ellen has to try and beat this winter.
For now, patience will be her companion as Ellen plays the waiting game for the right weather window to come along to propel B&Q to the start line and into the first stage of the 26,000 mile round the world course. Ellen will be in constant contact with her shore-based weather routers, Commanders' Weather based in the US. It is critical for B&Q to hook into a fast, stable and favourable weather pattern at the start of the course to slingshot B&Q across the Bay of Biscay and towards the Equator with strong Trade Winds that are not always established. B&Q has already demonstrated her speed capabilities on her solo west-east transatlantic record attempt this summer when she averaged speeds of 19.42 knots - for the round the world record, B&Q will have to average in excess of 15.38 knots to beat Joyon's time.
Follow Ellen's journey at TeamEllen.com.
Images © DPPI