Ellen MacArthur’s new carbon-fibre, Nigel Irens-designed, B&Q trimaran has entered the final week of assembly and will be craned into the water on Thursday (18 December). The 30.6m mast will also be fitted on the same day.

The official launch will take place in Darling Harbour outside the National Maritime Museum to coincide with the opening of the Schroders London Boat Show on Thursday, 8 January 2004. Ellen MacArthur has been officially invited by Schroders to co-open the 50th anniversary of the London Boat Show via satellite link from Sydney. MacArthur commented: “You cannot believe the effort that is going into this project right now. More and more of the team are in Sydney as we finalise the boat before putting her in the water and for the launch itself. It’s a stressful and exciting time!”

The construction at the Boatspeed facility north of Sydney in Australia, has taken more than 30,000 hours over a seven-month period since May this year.