Ellen MacArthur has, this morning, announced the 14 crew members who’ll race the 110ft maxi catamaran Kingfisher2 in the Jules Verne Trophy this winter.

Speaking about her new team at the Paris Boat Show, Ellen said: “We have assembled a fantastic group of people with a very wide knowledge base. It’s going to be very exciting and a learning experience for myself to sail with these guys, and I think a lot of fun as well!”

The international team is drawn from six nations and boasts 20 circumnavigations between them.

The Crew

Ellen MacArthur – United Kingdom

Neal MacDonald – United Kingdom

Nick Moloney -Australia

Benoit Briand -France

Bruno Dubois – Canada

Anthony Merringto – Australia

Andrew Henderson – Australia

Damian Foxall – Ireland

Andrew Preece – United Kingdom

Ronan Le Goff – France

Hervé Jan – France

Jason Carrington -United Kingdom

Nigel King – United Kingdom

Guillermo Aitadill – Spain

Once Kingfisher’s new 39m carbon fibre mast is completed, possibly by the end of next week, the team will sail from Cherbourg to Lorient to utilise the facilities of Le Defi French America’s Cup base. From here, in January, the project will move to a port closer to the Jules Verne start line [set between the lighhouses at Lizard Point in south-west England and Ushant on the north west tip of France] and await the green light from the weather routers.