2001 - a yachting odyssey pt1

James Boyd looks back on the first quarter of what was a top year on the water

A hugely emotional moment for Ellen, arriving home to a rapturous welcome at the end of the Vendee Globe

Ellen finished at 19.37 GMT the following day, still within Christophe Auguin's record time for the course. Her reception is Les Sables d'Olonne was almost greater than that of MichDes. madforsailing looked at Ellen's progress from school girl to round the world racing heroine. Some days later Ellen admitted that she was going to spend the rest of the year tri racing with Alain Gautier, who was part of Kingfisher's design team. Fellow woman sailor and Olympic Europe Gold Shirley Robertson told madforsailing how her world had been turned topsy-turvy by her success.

Back at sea, disaster struck when the rig came down on Catherine Chabaud's Whirlpoolas she was passing Spain en route to the finish. Probably the most extraordinary story from the Vendee Globe was that of Yves Parlier who was dismasted in the Indian Ocean and rather than throw in the towel, managed to salvage the rig, sail to a small port on the south side of New Zealand and bond the two bits of his mast together and restep the mast - all singlehanded! He then restarted the race, but low on supplies was forced to eat seaweed. madforsailing published a photo-essay and a review by Ed Gorman on the Frenchman's incredible voyage.

On 14 February Innovation Explorer rounded Cape Horn, homeward bound in The Race, but the event had by this stage become a procession. She was trailing Club Med by thousand miles. Meanwhile some way astern Team Adventure was making her second stop this time in Wellington, New Zealand where Yann Elies was told by doctors that he could not continue.

Meanwhile Laser Gold Ben Ainslie was trying his hand at big boat racing and had taken over the helm of Barlo Plastics for the IC45 racing in Palma. Prior to the launch of Peter Harrison's GBR Challenge, Ainslie had signed up with Peter Gilmour's OneWorld campaign for the America's Cup and later as part of this team won the he Australia Cup.

In South Africa top British Tornado contenders Hugh Styles and Adam May got their first place on a World Championship podium when they won the bronze medal in South Africa. Hugh Styles later discussed with madforsailing the Tornado's new makeover with the addition of a second trapeze and a long awaited genniker and what it is like to sail one.