Iain Young

Admittedly it would take a lot of talent and experience to do something like this, but I'm sure she's not the only person on the planet that could do it. I'm sure there are plenty of experienced people out there who given the opportunity and conditions could have done the job just as well. Is she really that much better than all the other long distance sailors around the world?

She's an excellent sailor, who was in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment, and the right weather conditions. The fact she "beat the record" had a lot to do with luck...

IMO of course

InvisibleMan

8 pages now, have we acheived anything worthwhile? nope lol perhaps we can acheive a record number of pages. Will all depend on whether on both sides being stubborn enough to get the last say or will it end when one side stops replying out of sheer boredom though it may carry on while the side remaining gloat in their success as the opposition have 'backed down & dont reply so must have realised the credibility of our arguments & how stupid they must have been to think otherwise'.....keep reading to find out....

Iain Young

Hey, it's kept me entertained during a very boring afternoon at work

Jerome

I would say that, right now, she is one of the world's top sailors. So, yes, she really is better than most long distance sailors, not least because she did it on her own.

Almost any significant achievement, of any kind, involves an element of luck.

Maybe we should abandon all awards/cups/rosettes/medals etc because, ultimately they mean nothing. Maybe we should also stop recognising any form of record for any sporting event. Furthermore, we should smash all stopwatches, because the time doesn't matter, just the fact that they beat the other competitors...

Iain Young

In fact, I agree with that

yellow sti6

iTrader: (1)

hi,she went to the same s**t hole as me,im a couple of years older than her,her brother was in the same year as me,his name was lewis(the loaf head)as his hair was like a freshly cooked loaf of bread,and as far as i can remember she was a lezbo,i wonder if she took her rampont rabbit with her(vibrator) LOL

Andy Hall

Blimey oh riley, is this still going on.

Well done Ellen. Respect!!

I've Sailed a bit but never got out of the English Channel. Sailing across the Channel felt like a hell of an acheivement to me and that was with a crew.

Records are always being beaten, and always will be, due to technology and human endurance. There are no level playing fields in sailing, even in a race, I have been in a race where two boats are becalmed and a boat 20 meters away gets a puff of wind and dissapears.

You can argue all you like about the fact that someone else could have done it, but the fact is they haven't yet and Ellen did.

No two records can ever be exactly the same. the fact is that she sailed a boat around the world quicker than any other human to date and I think that deserves recognition.
She has achieved this due to her and her teams choice of boatbuilder, and the light / strength of materials used and new technology, their interpretation of the conditions and weather and tides, her determination to see it through with virtually no sleep with no direct human contact for 71 days and a lot of skill. It takes a lot to keep boat trimmed and running flat out 24 hours a day for 71 days.

Maybe the media are having a bit of a field day, but a lot of people are interested and want to see how she did it. If its not your cup of tea turn the TV or page over.

Personally I don't like football, but I don't go and run it down saying its a waste of time and meaningless.
Scoring a goal in a world cup must feel like a similar achievement and I can respect that. So why are so many of you so intollerant?

TelBoy

I think we've pretty much answered all the questions, Andy, but you did make me laugh by labelling me intollerant. LOL, there's a first for everything i guess.

dpb

Technologies are pushed further by this sort of record breaking - there is a filter down effect, probably more so than with F1 et al . Surley its the human endurance -the competition with the elements which inspires the imagination and is what all the hype is about ( its still not possible to sail a yacht round the world from the safety of your armchair back home ..)

TORQUEamada

She looks like a moose and as someone else probably said the 'record' is meaningless as conditions vary all the time.
No achievement at all, except suckering in loads of mugs who think it's a worthwhile thing. The time I spent on the toilet this morning had more meaning.

Did I mention she's ugly as sin as well?

Iain Young

That's not what I've said. I simply said the record itself is pointless as it is not comparing like with like. Because she did the race faster than anyone else has before, doesn't mean that it is a greater achievement that the person who held the record before her. In fact, it might be less of an achievement considering the more advanced technology she had to hand...

Unfortunately the media thinks it is (as do a great number of people), which is demeaning for those who have acheived similar results with inferior equipment and conditions...

Kudos to Ellen for making the trip successfully, but the media should be focussing on the achievement, not the record....

InvisibleMan

oooh shes going to be made a Dame...thats sure to get a 'she not worthy - whose more worthy' mass debate

Jerome

Well there are plenty of mass debators on SN...

Drunken Bungle Whore

<intollerant Telboy mode>

Who's more worthy

</intollerant Telboy mode>

Flatcapdriver

Intolerant.

TelBoy

Christ, i copied the double l version on the last page!! Must have been the shock of being told that i'm a head-burying prude!!

Iain Young

Actually, personally I don't believe anyone should be awarded titles at all. Especially where things like this, the new years honours list, heredity peers / lords etc are concerned..

But don't get me started on that one - we'll be here all night

Andy Hall

Iain, don't take offence mate, that could have been aimed at any of another 159 posts.

Surely the achievement and the record must be one and the same, what small amount of telly I have seen have been focusing on the human endurance and acheivement, which have also put her in the record books!

Sexuality and looks don't really come into it either so I'm not sure what those comments are about, it isnt going to make you a better or worse sailor

Flatcapdriver

Why not? No, I'm with you on this one. It seems waaay too previous to me to start dishing out awards at this stage but then again it could be a case of people wanting to be associated with success - you just watch the pollies queue up to bathe in the reflected glow.

Iain Young

No offence taken

Agreed. No idea what those other were on about

dpb

Its the other way round , ffs there are people out there sailing round the world as we speak , hundreds of them - this is race against the clock thats how youve to take it..........It is the same as any other daft speed record ....water speed,land speed ...etc..etc...
....this doesnt take away from the fact that it is an inspiringly outstanding athletic acheivment .

InvisibleMan

Iain Young

Erm, isn't that exactly what I've been saying. (try reading the posts).

The achievement is a good one, the record is a load of rubbish.

dpb

The dame thing is another cringeworthy attempt by Bambis New Labour to climb on the bandwagon of popular success ..........theres an election round the corner as well...........

unclebuck

jeez - pass the sick bucket.

By this token somebody like Dougie Lampkin should be a Peer Of The Realm about 4 times over. Of course, nobody has ever heard of him because he never makes the front pages of the Tabloids - which is where the English are told who their 'heroes' must be.

http://www.dougielampkin.co.uk/

"With an amazing twelve World titles to his name, Dougie Lampkin has used the last decade to establish himself as a true motorcycling legend. Whilst some sportsmen may have struggled to keep their feet on the ground (a sin in the sport of trials) after having enjoyed such a degree of success, the broad shouldered Yorkshireman remains unaffected by his achievements, the associated fame, and remains totally motivated by his ultimate goal of striving to be the best trials rider ever."

tiggers

Uh oh! I find myself in complete agreement with the above The problem here once again is our beloved media who as ub so rightly says tell us who are heroes must be.

I think Ellen has done well and I would like to leave it there, but I just know that after the next few days of media hype I shall be wishing that I had never ever heard of her or her sailing exploits.

tiggers.

InvisibleMan

blimey & i agree with that too. i did see tiggers & thought oh here we go...

tiggers

LOL

Daryl

Absolutely! It only took 9 pages to get to the real nub of the issue

InvisibleMan

lol so at last are we all in agreement now?