While Ellen MacArthur takes a well-earned break following her success in the Route du Rhum, her shore team back in Cowes are frantically completing the refit on the giant catamaran Kingfisher 2 in which she will make an attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy in January.
The 110-foot catamaran, which as Orange set a new record for racing non-stop round the world, will be relaunched on Monday after a month-long refit at the Team Kingfisher base at the GBR Challenge yard.
Just before MacArthur took delivery of the boat, the mast fell overboard during a routine delivery and Neal McDonald, the Hamble-based skipper of Assa Abloy in the last Volvo Ocean Race, has been in Cherbourg overseeing the construction of a new mast, which will be ready to fit next week.
Once the refit is finished, the Kingfisher crew, featuring MacArthur as skipper, her Offshore Challenge colleague Nick Moloney and possibly McDonald himself, are expected to travel to Sansenxo in Spain where they will spend a month in training before setting out to break the record which currently stands at 65 days.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article