Ellen MacArthur grew up in the small village of Whatstandwell in England's landlocked Derbyshire. Inspired by a sailing trip with her aunt when she was four, Ellen saved her school lunch money for eight years to buy her first boat, an 8-foot sailing dinghy. At nineteen she sailed around Britain alone in her 21-foot boat, Iduna, then began a string of impressive finishes in solo long-distance races that culminated in her record-setting performance in the 2000 - 2001 Vendee Globe. She was named Woman of the Year for 2001 by the Sunday Times (London), and in 2002 she won the Route du Rhum singlehanded transatlantic race in her boat Kingfisher. In early 2003 she commanded Kingfisher 2, a 110-foot catamaran, in pursuit of the Jules Verne Trophy for fastest time around the world in a crewed sailboat. Ellen MacArthur now lives in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
