Ellen

Not the lesbian American TV star, but our own girl from Derbyshire Ed Gorman gets up to speed with the latest from la petite Anglais

Ellen is being very coy at the moment about her plans after the TJV. However it seems that her business relationship with her manager Mark Turner - who is also competing in the race alongside Nick Moloney in Kingfisher, now named Casto-Darty-BUT - is stronger than ever. The signs are that a long-term plan is now well-advanced and by the New Year or perhaps earlier, Ellen will be able to make some announcements.

Possible future commitments include an entry in the Around Alone race; another crack at the Vendee in a new boat or a campaign in her own Open 60 trimaran. The Kingfisher sponsorship is set to run well into next year but, if it ends at that point, it would be hard to see Ellen having a great deal of difficulty finding another company wishing to bask in her reflected glory. One thing seems certain at this stage: she has no plans to scale down her involvement in the sport.

Back to the TJV. Having seen some recent footage of Ellen and Alain training off L'Orient in 38 knots of breeze when Foncia was bucking to windward at ridiculous speeds and with a massive amount of spray and controlled violence going on, I asked her if she was ever scared.

"Not really scared," she said. "You are aware. I think that's the best way to put it. You are aware the whole time and you do respect the boat. They are amazing machines. You have to respect the boat - if you don't, you're not going to get across."

One other detail. What about sleep? How the hell do you sleep on Foncia in a seaway? Ellen has been asked this question quite a lot and has come up
with an excellent comparison. "Sleeping in a multihull is like trying to sleep in the passenger seat of a car with the seat wound down but with someone repeatedly slamming the breaks on."

Like bees to honey...demand for autographs is great, so much so that Ellen keeps a special marker pen in her back pocket to save time