Ellen MacArthur

Inspired as an 8-year-old by a sailing trip with her aunt, Ellen MacArthur saved her school dinner money for three years to buy her first boat. She went on to win the Young Sailor of the Year award aged 18. Three years later she won the 1998 Sailor of the Year award after winning a single-handed trans-Atlantic race. Ellen is from Whatstandwell in Derbyshire.