Sport 11-02-2005 Dame Ellen Not Average who: Yachtswoman Ellen Macarthur what: Sets new record for solo circumnavigation of the globe when: Monday snippet: Ellen MacArthur "set one of the most remarkable records in maritime history" on Monday night, says The Telegraph, when she completed a solo round-the-world yacht voyage in 71 days, 14 hours and 18 minutes, one day and eight hours faster than the previous record set by Francis Joyon. "Along the way she and her 75ft trimaran, B&Q, had encountered hurricane-force winds, mountainous waves, and the odd whale," says The Sun. "She has survived on dried food, purified sea water and as little as one hour`s sleep a night." "She has lived throughout that time with a clock ticking the seconds away," says Simon Barnes, chief sports writer at The Times. "Standing next to a massive duplicate of the clock yesterday, she said: `You can`t think how good it is to see the second hand not moving`." As she stepped on to dry land in Falmouth on Tuesday it was announced that she would be made a Dame Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order; at 28 years-old, she is the youngest person to receive the honour in modern history. But is she really the greatest seafarer in British history, as some have called her? It`s not as simple as that, argues Sue Mott in The Telegraph. She has proved her endurance, sure. "You could stand on a see-saw and have someone throw buckets of ice-cold water over your head," writes Ms Mott, "but that would not mirror one-hundredth of her level of discomfort". Yet Sir Francis Drake, to name but one great British sailor, had to survive on weevil-infested food and didn`t have the benefit of four meteorologists working round the clock when he took on the Spanish, nor did he have a constant satellite link to a technology manager, media manager, nutritionist and doctor. "From a purely sporting point of view, MacArthur`s feat is difficult to assess," agrees the BBC`s Matt Slater. "She has not won a race or smashed an iconic barrier - the sub-72-day round-the-world trip has not gripped a generation the way the four-minute mile did. Neither is MacArthur`s accomplishment a `first` of any kind." But the reason "we love Ellen", he continues, is that she is a petite, young woman, unprepossessing to the eye, who grew up in land-locked Derbyshire with a seemingly imposible dream, saving her school dinner money to buy her first boat and going on to become her chosen sport`s "greatest ever exponent" thanks to an "unparalleled will to win". [... more]

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