In her first hour at sea, Kingfisher2 – Ellen MacArthur’s 110ft giant cat – has clocked up nearly 30 miles. Only 25,970 to go! The maximum boat speed so far is 37.1 knots in winds topping 48 knots.

“Life on deck is pretty rough and very cold,” reported MacArthur, “when the watch crew are on deck everyone is holding onto a line ready to release it or ready to change sail so really on our toes in this wind…”