MacArthur - My toughest challenge

By Alex Trickett

Map: Ellen's route Calm before the Christmas storm

Ellen MacArthur has admitted she was on the brink of pulling out of her round-the-world record bid when a series of technical problems plagued her.

The 28-year-old Briton is now making good progress and is 20 hours ahead of schedule.

But she faces the prospect of savage storms on Christmas Day and has already overcome her share of obstacles since setting sail on 28 November.

"This is undoubtedly tougher than anything I've done before," said MacArthur, MBE, who became the youngest person and fastest woman to sail around the world in 2001.

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"I had a very stressful first few weeks. We hit great speeds and got good results, including crossing the equator in record time," the solo sailor told BBC Sport.

"But I paid the price, both physically and emotionally - I had to front up to problems and pushed myself very hard.

"At one stage, just southwest of Cape Town, the problems looked insurmountable when the power generator playing up.

"I thought I was going to have to pull out. But I worked hard to be able to carry on."

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MacArthur's trimaran B&Q was then smashed by 50ft waves and 55-knot winds over the weekend in a huge Southern Ocean storm.

But the brave Briton refused to bemoan her luck.

"On the whole, the sea gods have been kind," she said.

"I gave them an offering of champagne in the Atlantic Ocean and also wrote a message in the book I'd been reading - 'It's not about the bike' by Lance Armstrong - and threw that in."

Suitably inspired by Armstrong's heroic battle against cancer, MacArthur is now steeling herself for a frantic Christmas, as another storm front moves in.

"Christmas promises to be tough, with a new front expected to pitch in on 24 December.

"I have a small bag of presents on board, but I haven't been anywhere near it yet and I may not get the chance until after the storm passes.

"It's a long way down my list of priorities."