Fantastic Ellen! England has found a heroine... On 29th January, people all over Britain and all over the world watched Ellen MacArthur on their televisions. This 24-year-old girl has suddenly become a media superstar, and everyone is happy for her. As everyone knows, she has sailed non-stop round the world, alone. That is a pretty incredible thing to do. Not many people have sailed single-handed round the world without stopping and most of those who have done so are men. You need to be strong - physically and mentally - to make such a difficult voyage. Ellen managed it at the age of 24! Now she is the youngest person to have navigated the globe single-handed; and she is also the fastest woman. Furthermore, she almost won the very difficult "Vendée Globe" race finishing second after the frenchman Michel Desjoyaux. She finished the 42,000 kilometre race in 94 days, 4 hours and 25 minutes. It was an incredible perdormance, and during the race she had several alarming moments. Born a sailor? No, not at all! Ellen does not come from a sailing family and she did not spend her childhood beside the sea. Her parents, schoolteachers, live in Derbyshire, a country in the middle of England, far from the sea. But when she was a child, Ellen discovered sailing. Soon it became her passion. At the age of 17, people "discoverered" her when she sailed single-handed round Great Britain. We have not heard the last of Ellen MacArthur, that is sure!