Half of Ellen MacArthur will envy the 30 skippers setting off on the Vendee Globe round-the-world race today, the other half will be thankful for the small mercies of life on shore. Dame Ellen will be able to sleep in a comfortable bed, watch the weather forecast without cursing and not have her emotions elasticated by racing a stripped-down 60ft boat through some of the most inhospitable waters on the planet.

When MacArthur finished second in this race nearly eight years ago, Britain found an unlikely new keeper of a precious maritime tradition. No longer was the sea the preserve of salty old sea dogs. If a whippet of a girl from landlocked Derbyshire could match the best in the world in the toughest race in the world, anything was possible.

It was, however, more than that. MacArthur was not self-conscious or coy about her emotions. She lived them out in the open for everyone to see.

She wept openly on her arrival in Les Sables d’Olonne at the end of the race, not at the magnitude of her achievement or her survival, but on behalf of the boat that had carried her safely through the 27,000-mile journey. MacArthur did not return for the 2004 Vendee, throwing all her energies into breaking the solo round-the-world record in a 75ft trimaran the next year, a feat of seamanship and endurance that eclipsed her epic achievement in the Vendee. Just how much that took out of her is a question she habitually deflects. But she has not been round the world or competed in a major solo race since, and today in Les Sables her interest will centre on the BT-sponsored Team Ellen Open 60 skippered by the Frenchman Seb Josse.

Presumably, as the team founder and organiser, MacArthur could have been at the helm. Instead, Josse, who skippered the junior ABN-Amro boat on the last Volvo Ocean Race and finished fifth in the previous Vendee, has been handed the privilege of surfing through the Southern Ocean and battling the frustrations of the South Atlantic against the largest and most professional fleet assembled in the 18-year history of the event.

MacArthur’s influence is apparent in the size and s t r e n g t h o f t h e B r i t i s h challenge for the sixth Vendee. Five British skippers - Alex Thomson, Brian Thompson, Dee Caffari, Mike Golding and Jonny Malbon - are at the helm of new-generation Open 60s, although Thomson’s Hugo Boss has undergone extensive repairs after a collision with a French trawler a fortnight ago. Sam Davies, in an older but proven Open 60, Roxy, has come through the French system, gaining her education, as did MacArthur, in the ranks of the Figaro fleet. Steve White, who will be racing in the colours of the Toe in the Water charity, is a genuine privateer, underfunded and underpow-ered but a throwback to the first Vendee in 1989-90.

“There are 20 brand-new boats on the startline here, the most ever for a Vendee,” says MacArthur. “Some skippers will be ready. It will literally be a case of ‘step on board and off you go’, which means you can have some head space. Some skippers will still be running about, which makes it more difficult to have a clear head for the start of the race.

“It’s hard having to leave family and friends on the dockside, but everyone just wants to get out there and get on with it, not have to worry about any more television interviews or goodbyes. Then it’s a case of slowly disconnecting with the land. You feel nervous partly because of the unknown, partly because you know you’re going to be on your own for the next 3½ months.

“The race means different things to different people but everyone is undergoing a huge adventure. You can’t take that out of it. When you’re going through the Southern Ocean, you’re going to places in the world nobody ever sees. On the Vendee, you really do test yourself to the limit. You’re going through an incredible experience out there.”

Incredible dangers, too. If the Vendee has penetrated the consciousness of the nonsailing public, it has often done so for the wrong reasons. In the 1996-97 race, Pete Goss, the British skipper, had to turn back into the teeth of a gale to rescue Raphael Dinelli from his sinking boat deep into the Southern Ocean. During the same race Tony Bullimore and Thierry Dubois had to be rescued by the Australian coastal service after capsizing in a storm. They were lucky. The wreckage of a boat washed up six months later on the coast of Chile confirmed finally that the Canadian Gerry Roufs had lost his life on the race.

It is this sense of community that MacArthur will miss most as she watches the sails disappear over the horizon. As the organiser, she had to attend the inaugural Barcelona two-handed round-the-world race last year but watched the start from a nearby hill. “Those were my mates down there,” s h e e x p l a i n s . “ I m a d e a decision not to be there, but they were doing what I love.”

This time she will follow this Vendee on the internet, charting the progress of Josse and a fleet that includes two past winners, Vincent Riou and Michel Desjoyeaux. With Roland Jourdain and Loick Peyron, they are the natural inheritors of the tradition of solo adventurers laid down by Eric Tabarly. “Those are the most experienced guys,” MacArthur says. “They know their boats so well and they know the race. But it’s like Formula One. You wonder why it is that after so much time, effort and money has been invested in them, so many break down. The answer is that no less than in a grand prix they’re racing so close to the edge. When I did the Vendee I was 24 years old and my boat was not the quickest or the lightest. I studied the weather hard and I didn’t give up. I just p u s h e d a n d p u s h e d a n d pushed. You’re more likely to find that spirit in a young sailor than a more experienced one. But I wouldn’t be surprised if half the boats fell out.”

In keeping with current fashion, the new generation of Open 60s are broader, heavier and more powerful than their predecessors. More efficient autopilots allow skippers to spend more time studying weather data and less time sailing the boat. For the first time, each competitor will receive standardised weather information. The skill comes in the interpretation: which factor they regard as most significant. Much will still depend on instinct, a lot more on sheer luck.

“The race can be won or lost anywhere,” says MacArthur. “I always thought that once you got round Cape Horn, you were home. But I caught up Mich [Desjoyeaux], who was miles ahead on my race. He then overtook me again and won, but the next time I was five days ahead of the world record schedule rounding Cape Horn and 12 hours behind going across the equator. You’re exhausted anyway, the boat has taken a pounding and you can sit in the middle of a big pressure front with wind and rain all around and you’re not moving. You can do nothing about it. It’s brutal.”

In her absence from the start list, MacArthur has chosen the proxy skipper for her Anglo-French challenge wisely. Josse, at 33, still young, yet experienced and talented, ticks all the right boxes. If he returns to Les Sables as the winner in February, MacArthur can claim at least a share of the spoils.

Britain’s magnificent seven

Dee Caffari Aviva No problems with her seafaring skills but still learning how to race. Strong, well-prepared boat. She will sail reliably and pick up speed
Chances of victory 2 out of 5
www.avivaoceanracing.com
Steve White Toe in the Water Privateer, brave, feisty, underfunded and underprepared. The 36-year old from Dorset has already won by reaching the start
Chances of victory 0 out of 5
www.whiteoceanracing.com
Mike Golding Ecover Deserves a slice of luck after finishing third last time but has had less than ideal preparation. A Southern Ocean specialist
Chances of victory 4 out of 5
www.mikegolding.com
Sam Davies Roxy A natural solo sailor, smart and resilient, the true heiress to Ellen MacArthur. Her boat has won the race twice before, but might be pushed this time
Chances of victory 2 out of 5
www.roxysailing.com
Jonny Malbon Artemis This is the 34-year old’s maiden Vendee. He is short of miles and short of experience but has the right attitude. Will do well to reach the finish
Chances of victory 1 out of 5
www.artemisoceanracing.com
Brian Thompson Pindar The Bahrain team boat is a potential rocket ship, but both the boat and the skipper are untested in these conditions and at this level
Chances of victory 3 out of 5
www.teampindar.com
Alex Thomson Hugo Boss One of the favourites until his boat had to be remodelled after a collision with a French trawler. Still has the qualities to win the race
Chances of victory 3 out of 5
www.alexthomsonracing.com

The start of this year’s Vendee Globe will be broadcast live from 9.30am today at www.vendeeglobe.org/en