71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds. That’s the new standard, and Little Big Mac can be pretty pleased with herself. She also set a bunch of new records for segments of the round-the-world course:
Ushant-Equator 8d 18h 20m 7/12/04 0230GMT (taking 14h 3m off Joyon’s time)
Ushant-Cape of Good Hope 19d 9h 46m 17/12/04 1756GMT (taking 10h 45m off Joyon’s time)
Ushant-Cape Leeuwin 29d 14h 5m 27/12/04 2215GMT (taking 17h 24m off Joyon’s time)
Ushant-Cape Horn 44d 23h 36m 12/1/04 0746GMT (taking 4 days 2h 45m off Joyon’s time)
Ushant-Equator 60d 13h 35m 27/1/05 2145GMT (taking 1d 10h 50m off Joyon’s time)
Equator-Equator record of 51 days, 19 hours and 15 minutes
To pull it off she and B&Q sailed 27,354 miles through the water at an average speed of 15.9 knots. Not bad at all. So, what did it feel like to finish? Here are Ellen’s first thoughts:
“When I crossed the line I felt like collapsing on the cockpit floor and just falling asleep. I was absolutely over the moon but just the fact that you can finally let go – when you cross the line it’s over. It’s just over, you don’t have to worry anymore, I think that was the biggest emotion, elation and one of huge relief…I just feel exhausted but absolutely elated to be here and I’ve got a mixture of emotions in my mind. There are things spinning round in my head. The fact that I can see and touch people, that I can look them in the eyes, I’ve not looked anyone in the eyes for over two months. Just to have that look, to be able to see someone is very special. People take that for granted so there’s a lot of things going round in my head right now. It’s just great to have been able to cross the line, it’s great that I can finally switch my brain off and not have to concentrate on wind speed and boat speed or weather for the first time in over two months. And also just to relax in the company of others because that’s something that I have missed.”
And here is a gracious (though subtly chagrined) tribute from previous record holder, Francis Joyon:
“I always said that Ellen was a serious contender, and I can see today that she has decided to prove me right. The mere fact that she was able to sail around the world non-stop was quite an exploit, but to smash the record at the same time fully deserves my warmest congratulations. Ellen achieved this result through her concentrated efforts. Her team worked hard and backed her before and during her circumnavigation, and she did not ever lose her resolve. Being well supported is one thing, but when you find yourself in the middle of the southern lows in this type of boat, you really feel very alone. Having experienced the deep south in a multihull, and with this memory still fresh on my mind, I know full well that this can be very tough on the nerves. I am sure that at times, it must have been very hard going, and I often thought about Ellen, when she was in some difficult patches with south westerly winds and squalls violently pouring down on the boat. Her trimaran is big, there is a large surface area of sail, and in times like those, it is not her shore team that was able do much for her.
I was hoping to keep the record for a bit longer, but it was not something that I put on a pedestal either. During the press conference following my arrival, I pointed out that in my opinion it was possible to improve on my time, taking into account my damage and the times when I was becalmed. However, I did not think it would be Ellen beating me so soon, and so magnificently. Once again, well done to her!”
Both Joyon and Ellen have taken this sort of sailing to an entirely new level. Their solo times are in the ballpark or better than all the fully crewed times up to the launch of the latest generation of supermultihull. What’s next? Ellen says she’s after the transatlantic record. Fine. But have a beer first…
Ellen Returns To The “Real” World: “Uh-oh. Look at all those journalists. Maybe I should just turn around…”
The Earthist Chronicles 