Ellen MacArthur and team are ready to set off on the first event of their Asian Record Circuit 2006. In less than 24 hours MacArthur and her international team aboard the 75ft trimaran B&Q will begin leg one of the 10-leg circuit with the hope of establishing three records on the first leg (see below).

The record circuit will take approximately two and a half-months and will include stopovers in six counties including Asia; Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.

The first leg starts tomorrow from Yokohama, Japan; situated mid-way between Tokyo Bay and the open ocean.
B&Q will sail from Yokohama to the start line (5nm long), which bears west from Jogashima Light House in Tokyo Bay.

For this record leg the crew will cover 906nm to Jeju Island, South Korea. To get there they will first sail down the south-western shores of Japan before heading north-west to Jeju. After completing this first leg, B&Q will continue north-west to Dalian in northern mainland China, a further 418 nautical miles.

According to Offshore Challenges the benchmark target times judged according to the latest weather situation have been confirmed. There are three potential records to establish on these legs;

Record potential

1 Yokohama-Jeju Island (S.Korea) 906 (1678)nm target 4d 18h
(Gate:33 32 N 126 32 E)

2 Jeju Island- Dalian 418 (774) 2d 5h

3 Yokohama-Dalian Total Dist: 1324 (2452) Total time: 6d 23h

Full Itinerary

20-24 March
Stopover: Yokohama

25-31 March
Leg 1: Yokohama, Japan to Jeju Island, South Korea
Leg 2: Jeju Island to Dalian, China

1-4 April
Stopover: Dalian

5-6 April
Leg 3: Dalian to Qingdao

7-8 April
Stopover 3: Qingdao

9-10 April
Leg 4: Qingdao to Shanghai

11-15 April
Stopover: Shanghai

16-18 April
Leg 5: Shanghai to Taipei

19-20 April
Stopover: Taipei

21-23 April
Leg 6: Taipei to Hong Kong

24-30 April
Stopover: Hong Kong

1-7 May
Leg 7: Hong Kong to Sanya (Hainan Island)
Leg 8: Sanya to Nha Trang, Vietnam
Leg 9: Nha Trang to Terengganu, Malaysia

8- 11 May
Stopover: Terengganu

11-12 May
Leg 10: Terengganu to Singapore

13-17 May
Stopover: Singapore