Ellen returns to small cats

Cat racing for the superstars will kick off tomorrow in the Trophee Clairefontaine

Ellen MacArthur will skipper a 25ft catamaran this weekend with crew Nico Bérenger and Philippe Péché in the 14th edition of the annual Trophée Clairefontaine regatta held at La Trinité off the north-west coast of France. This will be the third time that Ellen has been invited to compete in this regatta which brings together the sailing greats from a variety of sailing disciplines.

"It is always a fun event and pretty challenging too as these small catamarans are quite a handful," said MacArthur. "You don't get much work-up time but racing with Nico and Philippe will be good as we have raced together quite a bit in the past. It's also a great spectacle for the public that turn up to watch to see some of the best-known sailors in the world taking it on in small boats round the cans."

Ernesto Bertarelli, who led the Alinghi team to a triumphant success at the last America's Cup, and Bertrand Pacé, who raced with Team New Zealand, will be out on the race track along with multihull supremos Loïck Peyron, Michel Desjoyeaux, Laurent Bourgnon and the monohull stars Bernard Stamm, who won the last Around Alone, and two-times IMOCA champion, Roland Jourdain will also be competing.

Tomorrow is a briefing and warm-up day for the skippers and crew before racing begins on Saturday with four races scheduled and five on Sunday.