THIS OBJECT IS PART OF THE PROJECT 'A HISTORY OF CORNWALL IN 100 OBJECTS'.
NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM CORNWALL. Falmouth has long been the launch pad for round the world records. Robin Knox-Johnston ended his solo voyage here in 1969. Wind forward the clock to 27 November 2004 when 400 people sent Ellen MacArthur off to Ushant in France to start her attempt at the world solo record. On 8 February 2005 the crowd at Falmouth that greeted her record-breaking return numbered c.8,000 and Robin was there to give her a hug. As well as becoming a Dame, Falmouth's Tourist Information Centre was renamed the Ellen Information Centre in her honour. The voyage had taken 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds or just over a day less than the previous record. As Ellen commented, 'the whole South Atlantic was terrible'.
Ellen's 74th day food ration is now on show in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Strange to think that had she consumed this she would not have broken the world record.
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