Ellen MacArthur not only officially opened the Schroders London Boat Show at ExCeL yesterday via a live link from Sydney but managed to launch her new 75ft Nigel Irens-designed trimaran at the same time.

MacArthur, with a faint Aussie twing to her accent, performed the opening ceremony in Sydney yesterday while thousands of visitors to the 50th annual London Boat show packed the halls of ExCel to witness the occasion. In the fading light (11 hours ahead) outside the National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour she cut the Schroder ribbon and declared the show open. Ellen’s youngest brother Fergus, who’d flown out to Sydney for the occasion, then performed the naming ceremony of the new B&Q trimaran while Ellen looked on with pride. Ellen said: “We have built what we hope will be a record-breaking boat that can set new solo speed records. The process of setting new world solo speed records is incredibly challenging but it is a step by step process beginning with an extensive boat testing programme in Auckland.”

MacArthur hopes to sail in her new yacht from Sydney to Auckland in the next few days to begin the period of boat testing before setting sail on her maiden solo voyage from Cape Horn back to Europe departing New Zealand in March.

Among other special guests at the opening ceremony in London Boatshow were the British Olympic Sailing Team including Ben Ainslie, Shirley Robertson and Iain Percy who chatted about their plans and preparations for the forthcoming Olympic Games in Athen in August.