MacArthur's Brazilian voyage

Ellen MacArthur has teamed up with Frenchman Alain Gaultier for the 6,100-mile Transat Jaques Vabre race to Brazil, and we caught up with her moments after crossing the Equator in first place.

real 14k Click here to listen to Ellen

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Fourteen crews set sail from Le Havre on Sunday and MacArthur and Gaultier face a formidable field.

Life on board Foncia-Kingfisher will be ultra-tough and the course - via Ascension Island - is notoriously challenging, passing as it does through big breezes as well as the windless Doldrums.

The first boats are expected in Salvador de Bahia on 18 November and Ellen MacArthur hopes to be leading them in.

real 14k Click here to listen to Ellen

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Yilmaz Mamedy, United Kingdom

Does having another crew member make the journey more mentally bearable or do you miss the solitude of your round-the-world-trip?

I think that it changes a lot of things, having someone else with you. I think it takes off quite a lot of the personal pressure in that you have someone else to judge the weather and also - with sail changes and things - you have that person there to say whether they think it's the right thing to do. That changes a lot. Also, you can have a giggle and that's quite difficult to do on your own.

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Tony Dowling, UK

I saw your boat at Southampton and tried to imagine climbing up that mast in a howling gale. Do you have any fear of heights?

Luckily, I don't have a fear of heights. Kingfisher's mast is 24 metres high and you wouldn't want to be hanging off that if you were scared of heights. I think you just concentrate on the job and try to get things done as fast as you can. But it can be pretty nerve-wracking, that's for sure.

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Dom, New York

What is the worst duty on a race like this?

How about emptying someone else's toilet bucket over the side!

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Ros, Brighton

How fast can Foncia-Kingfisher actually go?

Well, the fastest Iżve ever been on her - and what we all believe is the fastest she ever did - was in Zeebrugge this year, when she sat on 34 knots heading down the coast, which felt pretty fast to me. In this race, weżve done well over thirty knots.

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BBC Sport Online will be following Ellen's progress in the Transat Jacques Vabre and will publish her regular diary pieces as she closes in on race finish in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.