Ellen returns to one hull

News from this autumn's Transat Jacques Vabre

Ellen MacArthur, will temporarily be stepping off her 75ft trimaran, is to step on board the Open 60 Sill et Veolia to compete in the 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre. The 4,340 mile race that departs from the French port of Le Havre bound for Salvador de Bahia in Brazil on 5 November and takes approximately 16-18 days.

Jourdain has competed in five Transat Jacques Vabre races and is a double winner of the monohull Open 60 division, claiming victory in 1995 with Paul Vatine on board a trimaran and in 2001 on board her previous Open 60 with Gaël Le Cléac'h. Ellen has competed in the Transat Jacques Vabre three times finishing in 6th place in 1999 on board 60 Aquitaine Innovations-Kingfisher with Yves Parlier, second place in 2001 with French skipper Alain Gautier on board the ORMA 60 trimaran Foncia and in 2003, again with Gautier, but only managing 9th place after suffering a major halyard problems.

In the past, these two sailors have only sailed together once in the 2002 for the Grand Prix de Marseille, where Sill won. Apart from that, they have always been rivals on the water (although great friends on shore) and the bow of one boat has never been far from the stern of the other! On many occasions, MacArthur and Jourdain shared the winners the podium - in the 2000/2001 Vendée Globe, Jourdain finished just behind MacArthur in third place.

Jourdain and MacArthur will leave northern France on Saturday, 4 June on board Sill et Veolia to begin their 1000 mile qualifier for the Transat Jacques Vabre - a compulsory qualification process for all competing skippers.

"I am very happy to have time to do a transatlantic race with Ellen," says Jourdain of his new crew. "She is the ideal co-skipper and a great sailor. We've got a lot to share about the way we do things, from a sport point of view but also from a human point of view. Her and I come from a different culture. I think we will learn a lot after 15 days together onboard Sill et Veolia. And with Ellen, it's also a long story from a human point of view. In 2000 during the Vendée Globe, I was in front of her and when I suffered gear failure, she sent me an email straight away and then she called me and the same in 2002 during the Route du Rhum. In our class of 60 foot monohulls, we had a few debriefings after the Vendée Globe 2001 about the sport and I liked the speeches that Ellen did. We have the same vision about life, despite our age difference.

"I love this race. It gave me a lot of happiness with two victories and many podiums. And the destination is not bad at all! We start with rough conditions to finish with the intense heat. This race has become a real event with some faithful sponsors. I am happy to come back every time. Just happy to participate."

Ellen is equally enthusiast about stepping back onto a single hull yacht. "This is fantastic to do the Jacques Vabre with Bilou! We only raced together once, for a leg of an inshore race. This opportunity to sail together on a long race is really motivating! We are good friends and Bilou is a great sailor who knows his Open 60 monohull very well. We will give everything to make a beautiful race !"