The 5th November 2002 will see that start of one of the most gruelling ocean races that can be undertaken by any skipper. The Vendee Globe, this single handed round that world event will see each competitor dealing with every kind of climate and environment, totally alone for 100 days or more.

Ellen, at just 24 is the youngest of only two women competing this year, although her recent string of wins makes her a favourite, even though she will be up against other seasoned competitors such as Mike Golding. The only other British entry in a 20 plus international fleet.

The event however that is currently holding everyone's imagination is the 5th edition Transat Jaques Vabres, that this year see's it's greatest concentration of high profile competitors. The race consists of two classes, mono and multihull. The Monohull class starts from Le Havre in 11 days (Nov 3rd ), where all eyes are on the experienced team of Nick Moloney and Mark Turner. And the Multihull starts just one day later ( Nov 4th ) allowing the press to focus on Ellen MacArthur and Alain Gautier, Ellen's friend and mentor and with whom she has achieved so much recently.

Jaques Vabres is a brand of coffee sold in France, and, as a nod to it's past, the race starts at Le Havre, a port built off coffee clippers trading from South America. Ellen's experiences of this event in the past have not been too happy. Last time, as crew on board Aquitaine Innovations they experienced constant rigging problems before coming over the finishing line in Cartegena, Columbia.

The event will see both open monohulls like Kingfisher, and open 60 trimarans like Foncia Kingfisher take a route that will lead them across the equator to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil The Multihulls will have a slightly longer course, as they are faster, first rounding the Ascension Islands, West of Africa, taking the number of nines covered to 5,300, as opposed to 4, 340 for the slower monohulls. This should mean that both classes get to the finishing line at approximately the same time, keeping up the momentum of the event.

There are only two people allowed to crew each vessel, and each skipper will be pushed to the limit 24 hours a day as no down time is foreseen. They will not only deal with the problems of sleep deprivation, but will have to deal with the full range of weathers each climate can throw at them, from the North Atlantic trade winds, to the infamous Doldrums. Estimated completion times have been given as 17 - 21 days for the mono's, and 13 - 16 days for multi's.

Ellen has had a fantastic season, already taking first place in the Challenge Mondial Assistance, covering 2,700 miles onboard Foncia Kingfisher, again with Alain Gautier. And taking the wheel again of Kingfisher in June she took a respectable second in a breathtaking race with Roland Jourdain in Sill, in the Trophee SNI.

She had already taken first in August in the EDS Atlantic Challenge, and the Frecamp Multihull Grand Prix putting Foncia kingfisher ahead by 14 points in the ORMA 9Telecom Championships, the final qualifying event for the Transat Jaques Vabres.

2002 dates have not yet been confirmed, but it is possible Ellen will compete in Feb - April in the 1 st leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, The Around Alone in November and the Route du Rhum in November.

(images courtesy of Kingfisher Challenge)