Ellen's extreme challenge

MacArthur: Cracks jokes with team-mate Alain Gaultier

Ellen MacArthur talks to BBC Sport Online's Alex Trickett about the challenges that lie ahead in the Transat Jacques Vabre.

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Why did you decide to sail in this race?

Competing in the Transat Jacques Vabre is a natural decision after my last few years of work.

I'm actually racing with a Frenchman called Alain Gaultier on a boat called Kingfisher-Foncia.

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What particular challenges does this race pose?

I think the biggest challenge in this race is the boats because they are Open-60 trimarans and although they're the same length as boats like Kingfisher, they are four times the width and they really are very powerful.

Mono-hulls have a keel, trimarans don't, so they're very powerful, incredibly light and wild boats to sail.

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How do your boats compare to those being used in the Volvo Ocean Race?

Our boats weigh about half of a Volvo boat even though they are roughly the same length. They are wider and lighter and far more powerful.

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How important is this event to the sailing calendar?

It is massive in France and, we've seen for the first time, a massive number of foreign entries.

British entries, Italian entries, Belgian entries. Generally from Europe but things are changing.

And I think, when you go to Le Havre at the moment and you see the number of boats there - the harbour is just packed with the top race boats of the world - it's just amazing to see.

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You've raced the boat before. Tell us about you experiences last time.

Yes. I first raced Foncia in May in the Challenge Mondial - which was a race from Cherbourg, round the Azores to Spain.

That was amazing race.

We had a full range of conditions - everything from no wind in the Mediterranean to 35 knots heading round the Azores.

The team-work on the boat was fantastic, although that time there were five of us and this time we're racing with only two.

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And this time you have to go through the Doldrums?

We do. The course takes us from Le Havre in France down the English Channel.

We then head south and we basically have to cross the Doldrums, go around Ascension Island - which is in the South Atlantic - and head over to the coast of Brazil to a place called Salvador de Bahia.

And, what makes it particularly interesting is that we have to cross the Doldrums almost as far east as we can to keep the shortest route.

But the further east you go, the less wind you get.

That point of crossing the Doldrums is going to be absolutely crucial to the success of the boat.

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Obviously there are going to be some navigation choices to be made. Are you allowed assistance with that?

We are allowed all forms of routing, which is not the case in the Volvo Ocean Race, so we actually have a guy called Lee Bruce watching things 24 hours per day.

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I notice that you're giving the mono-hull boats a one day head-start and a shorter route, are you still going to beat them to port?

I think that in the past the multis have finished first despite this, so fingers crossed.

Quite frankly, there are eight boats that could win this.

We know for sure that we don't have one of the fastest boats, but reliability plays a massive part in a race like this and so far, Foncia is actually leading the circuit this season.

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Tell me a little bit about your partnership with Alain Gaultier.

Alain and I are quite similar in character.

Alain is obviously quite a lot older than me, but we've had a great relationship so far.

It's been an absolute pleasure working on the Kingfisher project. And it seemed very natural to continue sailing with him.

He's funny. We have jokes and even when we're pushing really hard, something has to break that stress.

The pure fact that you can laugh together in difficult situations makes a massive difference.

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Will you continue to work on the Kingfisher project next year?

Definitely. When we get back from this race we have the London and Paris boat shows and next May there is the Challenge Mondial again.

I'm really looking forward to that one.

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BBC Sport Online will be following Ellen MacArthur's progress during the Transat Jacques Vabre and gives you the opportunity to ask her your questions en route to Brazil.

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