Ellen MacArthur is racing against the likes of Ernesto Bertarelli and Bertrand Pacé during this weekend’s Trophée Clairefontaine regatta in La Trinité. MacArthur will skipper a 25ft catamaran with crew Nico Bérenger and Philippe Péché in the 14th edition of this annual event held off the north-west coast of France.

This will be the third time MacArthur has been invited to compete in this regatta which brings together the sailing greats from a variety of sailing disciplines.

As well as Ernesto Bertarelli, who led the Alinghi team to a triumphant success at the last America’s Cup, and Bertrand Pacé, who raced with Team New Zealand, there’ll be a host of multihull supremos on the startline including Loïck Peyron, Michel Desjoyeaux and Laurent Bourgnon. Monohull stars who’ll be joining them include Bernard Stamm, who won the last Around Alone, and two-times IMOCA champion, Roland Jourdain.

“It is always a fun event and pretty challenging too as these small catamarans are quite a handful,” said MacArthur. “You don’t get much work-up time but racing with Nico and Philippe will be good as we have raced together quite a bit in the past. It’s also a great spectacle for the public who turn up to see some of the best-known sailors in the world racing small boats round the cans.”

Tomorrow is a briefing and warm-up day for the skippers and crew before racing begins on Saturday with four races scheduled and five on Sunday.