Ellen on stand-by

Never a dull moment for Britain's latest Dame as she attempts a new record

Ellen MacArthur is currently out boat testing on her 75ft trimaran B&Q/Castorama in Lorient, France, in preparation for her fully crewed attempt on the 284 mile Record SNSM.

"The present forecast indicates a Monday afternoon departure from Lorient, crossing the line at St Nazaire when the SW breeze fills in overnight on Monday," said Ellen. But, of course, as with all great weather predictions this could change and the crew have a standby period from the 1-10 May to try and attempt this short record.

The Record SNSM is a 284 miles passage, passing the coast of Loire Atlantique in Pays de Loire then Brittany. This course highlights the 56 SNSM stations between Saint Nazaire and Saint Malo. The Societe Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM) is the equivalent of the RNLI in the UK, and just like the RNLI is funded solely by public donations.

Three of 60ft trimarans Thomas Coville's Sodebo, Michel Desjoyeux's Geant and Thierry Dupré on Gitana X set out on 19 April to establish a new ORMA record for the course. Both Gitana X and Geant were forced to abandon only a few hours into the record attempt due to gear failure but Coville went on to cross the finish line off St Malo on Wednesday 20 April in a time of 1 day, 1 hour, 37 minutes and 17 seconds at an average speed of 11.04 knots. This is the time Ellen will be looking to better.

Ellen and her crew of Loik Gallon, Charles Darbyshire and Jean René Keruzoré (cameraman) will be looking to establish a new Maxi class record and will be a good 'work-up' of the 75-foot trimaran following her refit over the last seven weeks.