In a new boat, the 50 ft Kingfisher, she undertook the Route du Rhum transatlantic race in November of last year, winning her class and finishing fifth overall in the monohulls. More people flock down to the quayside to see her off on a race than fill Wembley Stadium for a Cup Final. Sailing in France is what the marine industry hopes will arrive in Britain, where water sports appeal to a wider audience, especially young people. Thousands follow Ellen's race progress on the Internet. Messages and digital pictures from a boat in the middle of the Atlantic can be instantly relayed around the world from the on-board computer and updated every hour.
Satellite phones mean contact on shore for weather routing and emergencies.
Ellen's uncle, Dr Glyn MacArthur, a GP in Crich, was woken during one night to hear Ellen's voice asking his advice on a head injury she'd sustained during a severe gale on the Route du Rhum. Exhausting racing conditions mean sleeping in ten-minute snatches, a survival suit that doesn't come off for a week at a time and hands and wrists covered in salt sores and cuts. Sails, weighing twice as much as she does, may need changing a dozen times a day. There are moments of pure elation - sunrises and seascapes that take the breath away. But there are nightmare times when lone sailors must become engineers.