Katie set sail from Hamble, Hampshire in April 2006 on her solo circumnavigation in her 21ft yacht, Elektra. It took Katie three months to complete the voyage, stopping off in many of the locations Ellen herself did on her circumnavigation at the age of 18.

On receiving the cheque for her charity, Dame Ellen praised Katie’s motivation and passion for the project, “Lots of people say they are going to sail round Britain but very few actually motivate themselves to do it. Having done the route myself, I know what an awesome achievement it is actually getting round alone. Few people realise quite how hard it is. Not only do you have headlands, rocks, and shallows, you also have everything from fog to storms to contend with, whilst always remaining next to the coast.”

Katie, from Birmingham first went sailing on holiday with her parents in Greece when she was 13 years old and as soon as she returned she joined the Sea Cadets. Katie was inspired by Dame Ellen’s second place in the 2000-01 Vendee Globe and since that point followed her progress, prompting Katie to work as a volunteer for The Ellen MacArthur Trust in her holidays.

In Katie’s Gap year, before starting University at Southampton Solent, she decided to raise money for The Trust by attempting the solo journey but she says months on it still hasn’t sunk in, “I still can’t believe I managed it. I had some bad times and some great times but it is all worth it when you see it make a difference to the Children of the Trust. The whole point of it was to raise the money so the bad times you forget.”

“I have to say I couldn’t have done it without the great support of my Mum and Dad, my friends and sponsors. Crusader Sails went above and beyond to help me, as did Raymarine, Ernest Young, Elite Automotive and all my other sponsors. I will always remember my trip and hope to do something like that again for The Trust but probably after Uni!”

The Ellen MacArhtur Trust was set up in Jan 2003 to enliven the lives of children suffering or recovering from Leukaemia and cancer, it takes children from locations all over the UK sailing along the south coast.  “It is fantastic to see the positive impact that these trips have on the children that join us and I can’t thank everyone enough for their continued support over the last few years.  Thanks to all the amazing fundraising we are now able to take twice as many children sailing in 2007 than 2006, which is an amazing achievement”.