ELLEN
There are few people in our sport...



...who almost everyone "knows" on a first name basis -- Buddy, Dawn, Dennis, Ernesto, Larry, Russell, Torben and perhaps a few others here and there around the world. Not that they have ever met the person, but they refer to him or her by first (given) name. Today no one needs to say Ellen MacArthur. And even though she has now been knighted, somehow just plain "Ellen" is a better, stronger, more important appelation than "Dame Ellen" (yucks).

Sail Newport, the community sailing association, is one of our sport's great organizations. Am proud to have played a small part, with quite a number of others, in launching it when the Cup left Newport in 1983. Long-time friend Brad Read is its Executive Director; by all accounts he is doing a terrific job. And, like his brother Kenny, Brad is a word-class sailor in his own right. He covered the waterfront with Ellen in Scuttlebutt this morning....


GUEST EDITORIAL - Brad Read
Mentoring is a huge industry in the United States. Big Brothers and Big Sisters and similar programs all around the country do countless good deeds for kids from all walks of life. We are lucky that the mentoring philosophy has become a large part of sailing at all levels. All over the country, I see the "rock stars" of our sport volunteering time and energy towards their local sailing community. Young and old are enthralled with the excitement that the elite of our sport bring to the seminars, speaking engagements and personal appearances that they freely do. I have never been turned down by any of the big names that I've ever asked to come down and spend time with our youth or adult programs at Sail Newport. These range from Olympians, AC sailors, Around the World sailors and off shore veterans. The value that these elite sailors add to our programs is immeasurable. That said, there are those currently doing things in our sport that transcend sailing.

Ellen MacArthur needs to be recognized as quite possibly the most important sailing figure of our generation. My son came home from school Tuesday and we had the usual question and answer session that all parents have to decipher what they learned that day. It was Library day for his second grade class. Even though we live in Middletown, neighboring Newport, our school librarian is not a sailor. But today, the kids learned about one of the most amazing feats in the history of, yes you guessed it … Sailing. The Librarian picked up the story from USA Today of a British Girl, 28 years old that sailed all by herself and became the fastest person ever to sail around the world. "Was that a cool story for the class?" I asked my son. "Yeah, she was all alone you know, nobody else on the boat" he told me. "Would you like to do that someday?" I countered. "No, I like to sleep in my own bed." said Brendan. (Just like his Dad!) "The Queen of England wrote her a congratulations note!" I told my 5 year old daughter. She of course countered with "Did she send you a note when you won a race Dad?" "No, Queen Elizabeth must have missed that one!"

Ellen MacArthur is the ultimate role model. Her effort, talent and her accomplishments can be used to encourage the sport of sailing to the non-sailing community as well as the kids that we already are teaching to sail. The voyage that Ellen just completed has made International news. It is a story that transcends our sport. We as sailors have a new asset to use in our communities to get non-sailing families interested in our sport.