Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from

Whatstandwell Whatstandwell is a village on the River Derwent in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. It is about five miles south of Matlock and about four miles north of Belper. Whatstandwell railway station is located on the Derby-Matlock ...

near Matlock in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, now based in

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Fl ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

. MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, she broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, a feat which gained her international renown.

Francis Joyon Francis Joyon (born 28 May 1956) is a French professional sailboat racer and yachtsman. Joyon and his crew currently hold the Jules Verne Trophy for circumnavigation, on ''IDEC SPORT'' (40 days 23 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds), nearly five days les ...

, the Frenchman who had held the record before MacArthur, was able to recover the record again in early 2008. Following her retirement from professional sailing on 2 September 2010, MacArthur announced the launch of the

Ellen MacArthur Foundation Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight. MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, ...

, a charity that works with business and education to accelerate the transition to a

circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aim ...

Early life

MacArthur was born in

where she lived with her parents, who were both teachers, and two brothers Fergus, still in Whatstandwell, and Lewis, who now lives in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. She acquired her early interest in sailing, firstly by her desire to emulate her idol at the time, Sophie Burke, and secondly by reading

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

's ''

Swallows and Amazons series The ''Swallows and Amazons'' series is a series of twelve children's adventure novels by English author Arthur Ransome. Set in the interwar period, the novels involve group adventures by children, mainly in the school holidays and mainly in Eng ...

'' of books. She has since become the Patron of the Nancy Blackett Trust which owns and operates Ransome's yacht, ''

Nancy Blackett Nancy Blackett is a fictional character in nine of the twelve juvenile novels in Arthur Ransome's ''Swallows and Amazons series'' of books. She acts as captain of the dinghy, ''Amazon'' and usually directing her friends in their various adventu ...

''. Her first ever experience of sailing was on a boat owned by her auntie, Thea MacArthur on the east coast of England. She saved her school dinner money for three years to buy her first boat which shows her devotion. The boat she purchased was an eight-foot dinghy, which, at the time of purchase, she named '' Threp'ny Bit'' even though

decimalisation Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...

had taken place before she was born. She sellotaped a real 'threepenny bit' coin onto the bow. MacArthur attended

Wirksworth Wirksworth is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population of 5,038 in the 2011 census was estimated at 5,180 in 2019. Wirksworth contains the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The town was granted a mar ...

County Infants and Junior Schools and the Anthony Gell School and also worked at a sailing school in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

. When she was 17, MacArthur bought a

Corribee The Corribee is a model of sailing yacht with good sea keeping ability. It was in a Corribee that Ellen MacArthur sailed around Britain. The boat has also made longer voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Mark 1 Corribee Mk 1, Clinker The fi ...

and named it ''Iduna''; she described the first moment she saw it as "love at first sight". In 1995 she sailed ''Iduna'' single-handed on a circumnavigation of Great Britain. In 1997, she finished 17th in the

Mini Transat Mini Transat is a solo transatlantic yacht race which typically starts in France and ends in the Caribbean. The race uses small long yachts conforming to the Mini Transat 6.50 class rules which gives considering scope for development More rece ...

solo transatlantic race after fitting out her 21 ft (6.4 m)

Classe Mini Mini Transat 6.50 also known by a number of alternatives Mini, Class Mini, Transat 650 is a development measurement controlled offshore sailing primarily used for racing in the Mini Transat Race hence the name. Background History The Classe Min ...

yacht ''Le Poisson'' herself while living in a French boatyard. She was named 1998

British Telecom BT Group plc (trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, b ...

/ Royal Yachting Association "Yachtsman of The Year" in the UK and "Sailing's Young Hope" in France.

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

20043 Ellenmacarthur 43 may refer to: * 43 (number) * one of the years 43 BC, AD 43, 1943, 2043 * Licor 43, also known as "Cuarenta Y Tres" ("Forty-three" in Spanish) * George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, nicknamed "Bush 43" to distinguish from his f ...

is named after her.

Professional sailing career

MacArthur first came to general prominence in 2001 when she finished second in the

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France ...

solo round-the-world sailing race in her Owen Clarke/Rob Humphreys designed ''Kingfisher'' (named after her sponsors,

Kingfisher plc Kingfisher plc is a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher is listed on the London ...

), and subsequently MacArthur was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) for services to sport. At 24, she was the youngest competitor to complete the voyage. In 2003, she captained a round-the-world record attempt for a crewed yacht in Kingfisher 2 (a catamaran formerly owned by

Bruno Peyron Bruno Tristan Peyron (born 10 November 1955) is a French yachtsman who, along with his crew on the catamaran '' Orange II'', broke the outright round-the-world sailing record in March 2005. He was the first winner of the Jules Verne Trophy in 1 ...

and known as ''Orange''), but was thwarted by a broken mast in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-smal ...

Ellen Macarthur arriving in Falmouth - geograph

A trimaran named '' B&Q/

Castorama Castorama () is a French retailer of DIY and home improvement tools and supplies, headquartered in Templemars, France, and is part of the British group Kingfisher plc, which has 101 stores in France and 90 in Poland. The company became a subsidia ...

'' (after two companies in the Kingfisher group) unveiled in January 2004, was specially designed by

Nigel Irens Nigel Irens RDI is a leading yacht designer. Amongst his designs are the ''Adventurer,'' a 35m trimaran motor yacht which completed a record-breaking circumnavigation in 1998, and ''B&Q/Castorama'' a 23 m sailing trimaran used by Ellen MacAr ...

and Benoit Cabaret for her to break solo records. The 75-foot (23 m)

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreatio ...

was built in Australia, with many of the components specifically arranged to take into account MacArthur's 5-foot 2 inch (1.57 m) height. Using the yacht, her first significant record attempt in 2004 to break the west–east transatlantic crossing time failed by around one and a quarter hours, after over seven days of sailing. She began her attempt to break the solo record for sailing non-stop around the world on 28 November 2004. During her circumnavigation, she set records for the fastest solo voyage to the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...

, past the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

, past

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

and back to the equator again. She crossed the finishing line near the French coast at

Ushant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of govern ...

at 22:29 UTC on 7 February 2005 beating the previous record set by French sailor

by 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes, 49 seconds. Her time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds is world record for the covered. This is an average speed of . On 8 February 2005, following her return to England, it was announced that she was to be made a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(DBE) in recognition of her achievement. It is believed that she is the youngest ever recipient of this honour. Coming immediately after the event being recognised, rather than appearing in due course in the New Year's or Birthday Honours lists, this recognition was reminiscent of

accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...

s previously bestowed upon

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ...

and

Francis Chichester Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE (17 September 1901 – 26 August 1972) was a British businessman, pioneering aviator and solo sailor. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the worl ...

when reaching home shores after their respective circumnavigations in

1580 __NOTOC__ Events January–June * January 31 – Portuguese succession crisis of 1580: The death of Henry, King of Portugal, with no direct heirs, leads to conflict between his potential successors, including King Philip II of ...

and 1967. MacArthur was also granted the rank of Honorary

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

on the same day. In recognition of her achievement she was appointed a Knight (Chevalier) of the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

by President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

in March 2008. She is a fluent French speaker. In 2007 MacArthur headed up BT Team Ellen, a three-person sailing team which includes Australian

Nick Moloney Nick Moloney is an Australian professional yachtsman, born on 5 May 1968 in Melbourne, Australia. Having completed 3 circumnavigation and set 15 speed records and competed in pinnacle yachting events. Race result highlights Biography File:S ...

and Frenchman Sébastien Josse. In October 2009 MacArthur announced her intention to retire from competitive racing to concentrate on the subject of resource and energy use in the global economy.

Sailing records

In June 2000, MacArthur sailed the monohull ''Kingfisher'' from

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

, UK to

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, USA in 14 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes. This is the current record for a single-handed woman monohull east-to-west passage, and also the record for a single-handed woman in any vessel. MacArthur's second place in the 2000–2001 edition of the

, with a time of 94 days, 4 hours and 25 minutes, was the world record for a single-handed, non-stop, monohull circumnavigation by a woman. The record stood for 20 years until

Clarisse Crémer Clarisse Crémer (born 30 December 1989 in Paris) is a French female professional sailor. She is an offshore sailor having competed extensively in the Figaro class before progressing to the IMOCA 60. Crémer's 12th place in the 2020–2021 edit ...

beat it in 2020-2021 edition of the Vendée Globe. In June 2004, MacArthur sailed her trimaran ''B&Q/Castorama'' from

Ambrose Light Ambrose Light, often called Ambrose Tower, was the light station at the convergence of several major shipping lanes in Lower New York Bay, including Ambrose Channel, the primary passage for ships entering and departing the Port of New York an ...

, Lower New York Bay, USA to

Lizard Point, Cornwall Lizard Point () in Cornwall is at the southern tip of the Lizard Peninsula. It is situated half-a-mile (800 m) south of Lizard village in the civil parish of Landewednack and about 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Helston. Lizard Poi ...

, UK in 7 days, 3 hours, 50 minutes. This set a new world record for a transatlantic crossing by women, beating the previous crewed record as well as the singlehanded version. In 2005, MacArthur beat Francis Joyon's existing world record for a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation. MacArthur in the trimaran ''B&Q/Castorama'' sailed at an average speed of 15.9

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

. Her time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds beat Joyon's then world record time by 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds. She had no more than 20 minutes' sleep at a time during the voyage, having to be on constant lookout day and night. On 23 November 2007 Joyon set off in ''

IDEC 2 ''IDEC 2'' is an ocean racing trimaran skippered by Francis Joyon and sponsored by groupe IDEC. She is currently named ''Qingdao China''. As ''IDEC 2'' The main goal of Francis Joyon was to regain the single-handed round-the-world record from E ...

'' in an attempt to beat MacArthur's current world record for a single handed circumnavigation. He achieved his goal in 57 days, 13 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds. Despite Joyon's reclamation of the record,

Robin Knox-Johnston Sir William Robert Patrick Knox-Johnston (born 17 March 1939) is a British sailor. In 1969, he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Along with Sir Peter Blake, he won the second Jules Ve ...

still described MacArthur's time as an "amazing achievement".

Popular culture

In 2009 McArthur appeared on BBC Radio 4's

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

. Her chosen book was ''

The SAS Survival Handbook ''The SAS Survival Handbook'' is a survival guide by British author and professional soldier, John Wiseman, first published by Williams Collins in 1986. Second, revised edition came out in 2009. A digital app for smartphones based on the book ...

'' by John "Lofty" Wiseman and her luxury item was a fluffy worm mascot. MacArthur was also the last record holder on Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car on the BBC's ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'' television driving programme until the eighth series, when the car and rules were changed, and previous records were removed. The competition was a timed lap of a racetrack in a

Suzuki Liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

. She completed the lap in 1 minute 46.7 seconds, beating

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

by 0.2 seconds. MacArthur won ''

s Fastest Driver of the Year award in 2005. She also took part in 2011 TV series

Jamie's Dream School Jamie's Dream School is a seven-part British television documentary series made by Fresh One Productions, first aired on Channel 4. In it, Jamie Oliver enrols a group of teenagers with fewer than five GCSEs into his "Dream School" – a school ...

. There is a display about MacArthur at th
Wirksworth Heritage Centre
Derbyshire.

Books

In 2002, MacArthur released her first

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

entitled ''Taking on the World''. Later she wrote ''Race Against Time'', published in 2005, a day-by-day account of her record journey around the world. In September 2010, she published a second autobiography entitled ''Full Circle''.

Charities

Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust

In 2003, MacArthur set up the Ellen MacArthur Trust (now the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust), a registered charity, to 8 to 24 year olds sailing to help them regain their confidence whilst recovering from cancer, leukaemia and other serious illnesses. In 2008 MacArthur joined other sports celebrities to raise £4 million for the Rainbows children's hospice. The aim is to give terminally ill young people their own customised sleeping unit to enable children in separate age groups to have their families stay with them.

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) is a UK

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

which promotes the

. It does this by developing and promoting the concept of a circular economy, working with business, policy makers and academics.

History

Founded on 23 June 2009, the foundation was publicly launched on 2 September 2010 by MacArthur at the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...

. The charity was inspired by MacArthur's sailing experiences. On 17 May 2017, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Prince of Wales' International Sustainability Unit launched a US$2 million prize fund for innovations which work towards the management of waste plastics. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a founding member and partner of the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), which was launched out of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

References

External links

Official website of Dame Ellen MacArthur
*
Wirksworth Heritage Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur, Ellen ISAF World Sailor of the Year (female) English female sailors (sport) Vendée Globe finishers British Vendee Globe sailors 2000 Vendee Globe sailors Single-handed circumnavigating sailors Laureus World Sports Awards winners Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Sporting dames People from Amber Valley People from Cowes 1976 births Living people Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur English sailors English explorers Female explorers Founders of charities The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year winners Royal Naval Reserve personnel