Ellen MacArthur has lost her bid to sale around the world as the mast and rigging have gone afloat in the South Pacific. A collegue of mine passed over the article in the Times and I have found it online. She is the bomb, even if she failed this time, she has more courage and strength than a so many others, male or female. She inspires the best in all us. Read her dispatch direct from the boat here.

“Just three hours ago I was having stitches put in my hand after cutting it open when a rope ripped through it in a manoeuvre. An hour ago I was cutting through rigging as if there was no tomorrow. Now even that seems irrelevant � no longer are we living each day for our 24-hour distance run or thinking about every aspect of boatspeed. Our attempt to break the 64-day record, the Jules Verne, is over”