Ellen MacArthur redirects sails for Newport
Apr 22, 2004 19: 43 EST
Ellen MacArthur arrived in Newport Shipyard, Newport Rhode Island at 11am local time Monday (1600GMT). After sailing through some fog patches in 15knots
of south westerly breeze, she was joined by her shore team to help navigate her the final 4 miles to the dock.
The decision for B&Q to arrive at Newport Rhode Island, rather than New York, was taken at the end of last week by MacArthur and her shore team, lead by technical director, Neil Graham, to faciliate work to boat.
B&Q will now undergo a series of checks to fully analyse the impact of the journey from New Zealand. The team will also work through the job list compiled by Ellen during her journey before going on standby for a possible transatlantic attempt.
Ellen MacArthur shot to fame when she became the fastest solo woman to sail round-the-world in 2001’s Vendee Globe. Now she has her sight set on breaking the world solo speed record over the next two years in a brand new £1.5million trimaran designed by Nigel Irens. Named Castorama B&Q, after its sponsors, the 75 ft long triple-hulled boat is built for speed, said to reach over 35 knots.
Ellen is eyeing several records including the 24-hour distance record as well as making it round-the-world fastest. Typically, trimarans are fast boats, but trickier to handle in high winds. After last year’s dismasting on her catamaran Kingfisher 2 in the Jules Verne Challenge and everything it took to come this far, Ellen is thrilled to be on the water again.
B&Q has over 350 stores in the UK, China and Taiwan and employs about 40,000 people. With its sister DIY company Castorama which has stores in France, Italy and Poland, B&Q is the biggest DIY retailer in Europe and third biggest in the world.
Image of Ellen onboard B&Q courtesy of TeamEllen.com.
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