Dame Ellen to set record to beat

Dame Ellen MacArthur is the fastest person to sail solo around the world

Record-breaking yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur is to set a time limit for a cross-Channel dash for other sailors to try to beat.

She will set a time for a trip from Plymouth to Roscoff in Brittany for the new Brittany Ferries 100-Mile Trophy.

She will again be sailing the trimaran B&Q in which she set a solo, non-stop round the world sailing record.

The trophy will be awarded to any vessel that breaks the record set by B&Q after she sails on 3 June.

Joining Dame Ellen on board will be top French skipper Roland Jourdain, who competed against her in the 2000/2001 Vendee Globe.

On that occasion, Jourdain finished one place behind her in third spot.

Transatlantic record

Dame Ellen is also planning a second attempt on the solo transatlantic record from New York to Plymouth, a near-3,000-mile (4,830km) run, later this year.

Last June, she missed out on the decade-old record of seven days, two hours, 34 minutes and 42 seconds by just 75 minutes.

Dame Ellen, who goes on standby from 1 September to make the transatlantic trip, said: "We need to have a pretty perfect weather window to have any chance of breaking this very fast record.

"To stand a chance of breaking this record we will have go flat out and just go for it all the way to the English Channel."

The 28-year-old, who is based on the Isle of Wight, became the fastest person to sail solo around the world in 71 days in February

In April, she also became the youngest person to receive a damehood.

Since Dame Ellen's triumphant circumnavigation her boat B&Q has been refitted at Lorient, France, and this was the first time it had been taken out for an extended sail.