ON THE WATER
a ‘thank you’ for a large cash donation for the Trust, and
recalls: “It was a mad radical boat that usually races for
about six minutes not 60 miles. Most of those on board
had never been around the Island before; the boat had no
engines or electronics.
“So off we went and the ride down the south side of the
Island was hairy to say the least – we were flying along, and
crossed the line first in four hours, six minutes to be back
for breakfast.”
Ellen will be on one of the five Trust boats this year. She
continued: “Round the Island is a race, and when I sail
with the Cancer Trust we are out there racing. Obviously
safety comes first, but we still get competitive, and always
cheer if we pip one of the other Trust boats as we cross the
line. Around 20 young people recovering from cancer and
leukaemia will be taking part again this year.
“They love it and having initially come on the four-day
trip and taken part in Round the Island, many come back
to volunteer as helpers when they get a bit older. We used
to stop at 18 years of age, but now do trips from 18 to 24
as well. We have done that becaue if someone gets cancer at
16 they have no qualifications because they have been going
through treatment at the time of GCSEs or A levels, so that
is why that age group is so important.”
Suddenly Ellen decided it was time to change direction,
but admits: “Giving up sailing was the most difficult
decision I ever made. I had no reason to stop and hadn’t
done enough. But I realised there was a bigger challenge
out there I wanted to be involved in.”
That challenge is the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. She
said: “I realised there were parallels between my life at sea
and on land. When you sail around the world you take the
minimum resources otherwise you won’t win. There is no
support boat with you if you run out – that’s it.
“You develop this overwhelming notion of the definition
of the word finite, and I had never applied that to land.
When I stepped off the boat I realised we had finite
resources on this planet and are not using them in a manner
that will allow us to continue to be using them in 100
years.
“Everyone was talking about being more efficient, but if
you have a number of finite resources and use them more
efficiently it doesn’t solve the problem, it only buys you
time. We don’t work on behavioural change, it’s system
levels change, and the Foundation’s aim is to inspire the
next generation to re-think, re-design and build a positive
future.
It is the most exciting thing I have ever done in my entire
life. I will sail but I won’t race sail again because unlike
racing this project has no finish line. This matters more
than any race – that was self indulgent. I went round the
world three times, but what did it achieve?”
www.visitislandlife.com
67