Earlier this morning Dame Ellen MacArthur, Patron of the Nancy Blackett Trust, crossed the finish line near Singapore at the end of the eleventh and final leg of the inaugural Asian Record Circuit, having established thirteen records between various ports in south-east Asia.

With an international crew onboard the trimaran B&Q, including sailors from France, Singapore and China, the Asian Record Circuit commenced on March 25th, with the eleven individual legs completed in a total time of 24 days, 40 minutes and 15 seconds, over a period of eight weeks, having visited Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

In an e-mail sent on their way into Singapore after finishing, Ellen said: “There is a strange atmosphere here onboard, one that is hard to describe… I am not sure if it’s relief or sadness or possibly both really. This tour has been about the sailing challenges for sure – but also about the people…

“We have met extraordinary people, from the kids we went sailing with in Qingdao, to the Prime Minister of Malaysia. From the old man who swept the streets in Dalian who asked for an autograph, to the oldest non-stop round the world sailor in Japan. Everything is a blur of culture, people, contrasts, beauty, poverty, luxury and the ocean – the forever-changing ocean…”

On the achievements of the past eight weeks, she added: “It’s almost unbelievable, and I feel that I have not taken so much of it in, even now as we are heading into the safety of the dock in Singapore. It will only be in time, when we are able to reflect on what we have achieved, that we shall comprehend what we have managed to achieve out here.”

The records set were:
1. Yokohama, Japan – Cheju Island,South Korea (5 days, 11 hours, 10 minutes, 51 seconds)
2. Cheju Island – Dalian, China (1 day, 15 hours, 57 minutes, 28 seconds)
3. Yokohama – Dalian (7 days, 3 hours, 8 minutes, 19 seconds)
4. Dalian – Qingdao, China (1 day, 2 minutes, 53 seconds)
5. Qingdao – Shanghai, China (1 day, 5 hours, 25 minutes, 33 seconds)
6. Shanghai – Taipei, Taiwan (3 days, 1 minute, 55 seconds)
7. Taipei – Hong Kong (2 days, 16 hours, 46 minutes, 37 seconds)
8. Hong Kong – Sanya, Hainan Island (1 day, 22 hours, 53 minutes, 25 seconds)
9. Sanya – Nha Trang, Vietnam (2 days, 1 hour, 37 minutes, 45 seconds)
10. Nha Trang – Tumpai, Thailand (2 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes, 14 seconds)
11. Tumpai – Terengganu, Malaysia (5 hours, 39 minutes, 26 seconds)
12. Hong Kong – Terengganu (7 days, 5 minutes, 50 seconds)
13. Terengganu – Singapore (1 day, 23 hours, 9 minutes, 8 seconds)

For further details of the records set, and more of the e-mail from Ellen, please see the story from Team Ellen. The Asian Record Circuit website also has the records and an interactive map.