"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that deep down in your heart, if you have a dream, then you can and must make it happen." And yesterday the indomitable Ellen MacArthur vindicated her claim in awe-inspiring style.
It used to be that Everest epitomised that ultimate dream, but it has been mastered now by 1,800 climbers. Then space was the final frontier - but 450 have made it into orbit. Five sailors have tried to circumnavigate the world single-handed, non-stop, in a multi-hull yacht. Only one, Francis Joyon, had managed before yesterday to finish, and in doing so a year ago he knocked 21 days off the previous (monohull) record. Now 28-year-old Ellen MacArthur has taken one day, eight hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds off his extraordinary time.
When she crossed the line on Monday night she had sailed 42,000 kilometres in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds, at an average speed on the water of 15.9 knots, a speed that most sailors would associate with a speed boat. Bruised and exhausted, having never slept more than an hour at a time in two months, MacArthur had braved tumultuous seas and winds, icebergs, a narrow miss with a whale, and a death-defying climb to the top of her 90-foot mast in churning seas. Her achievement is a feat of physical endurance that few can comprehend and a bravura sailing display of exceptional skill - to maintain her pace meant as many as 15 sail changes a day.
Appropriately, MacArthur was met at Falmouth by her friend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston who 37 years ago was the first person to go around the globe single-handed non-stop. He left Falmouth in June 1968 to return to a hero's welcome in April the next year. His journey took four times as long as MacArthur's.
Comparing their achievements recently, Knox-Johnston observed that "my boat Suhaili was small and wooden. MacArthur's boat is three times as long and half as heavy and has sails three or four times larger. To navigate I had a sextant and chronometer. The equipment had changed very little since Captain Cook's time. MacArthur has GPS, [electronic satellite-based navigation system] which updates every three seconds, telling you where you are, what speed you are doing. You don't need to navigate". His intention was not by any means to belittle the MacArthur feat, but to put it in context. Science has allowed her to reach higher and faster, and her achievement is very much of her time. But, at the end of the day, she has ridden a finely-tuned racehorse of a boat across the most formidable seas with a courage and skill that no man or woman can match. She deserves all the plaudits she is receiving.