On the evening of Sunday February 11 2001, the site of a diminutive
English woman sailing into the port of Les Sables D'Olonne
captivated the world. Ellen MacArthur, a 24-year-old from the
land-locked county of Derbyshire, had finished the Vendee Globe,
generally acknowledged as the world's toughest maritime race. She
didn't win the race, she finished second. But that didn't matter.
Ellen MacArthur was the youngest person ever to complete the race
and the fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe by sea. This is
the story of a love affair with the sea and sailing. As a child of
four, Ellen was taken on a sailing trip on her aunt's boat and was
immediately captivated. Determined to buy herself a dinghy, once
home she began to save all her pocket money, keeping track of it on
a large chart. She pored over magazines, sending off for the
various catalogues and 'filing them in order of the size of
dinghy'. At the age of ten she bought her first boat - Threep'ny
Bit - and went to her first race training camp. Captivated by the
sight of the Whitbread Race whilst recovering from a bout of
glandular fever, Ellen decided that race sailing was for her. At
the age of 18, she was nominated for and won the BT/YJA Young
Sailor of the Year. A year later, in Iduna, she sailed round the
coast of Britain and the following year raced single-handedly
across the Atlantic. Through her book, one hears Ellen's voice
taking us with her through the ups and downs of sailing. She tells
of her struggles to get sponsorship. She introduces us to her
close-knit sailing 'family'. She takes us with her around Britain,
across the Atlantic, on the Route de Rhum and, of course, on the
incredible journey of the Vendee Globe. Those of us who were
transfixed by the documentary on her Vendee Globe will never forget
the sight of this 5ft 3ins figure struggling more than once to
climb the mast to fix the sails. Some of her emails are reproduced
and the reader is there with her, watching the dolphins, seeing the
sunrise, being awed by the icebergs and frightened by the storms.
Lavishly illustrated with over 100 colour photographs, this is a
book for anyone who ever had a dream. (Kirkus UK)
In February 2001 twenty-four year old Ellen MacArthur completed the Vendée Globe, the world’s toughest race. As the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe singlehanded and as the fastest woman to ever have done so, her achievement was remarkable. But how had a young woman from landlocked Derbyshire come to find a new home among the waves?
In Taking on the World, Ellen tells her story, from saving pennies to buy her first boat through sailing around Britain as a teenager to racing the Vendee Globe itself. Enthralling and inspiring in equal measure, its shows how courage, passion and determination can overcome all obstacles – and how one young woman made her dreams come true.
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