Youngster takes to the sea with inspirational yachtswoman (From Swindon Advertiser)

Youngster takes to the sea with inspirational yachtswoman

8:30pm Thursday 30th April 2009 in

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A SWINDON teenager is taking to the high seas for a voyage of discovery with Dame Ellen MacArthur.

Rachel Blackford, 17, from Peatmoor is one of five teenagers joining the around-the-world yachtswoman on the first leg of her four-month inspirational voyage around Britain with the Ellen MacArthur Trust.

“I’m really excited about it,” Rachel said. “I love sailing and have been out with the trust before but this is the furthest I’ll have travelled and with Dame Ellen on board it’ll be fantastic.”

Challenge it may be but it won’t be the toughest Rachel has had to face in her young life.

I’m really excited about the summer ahead, spending time with young people

Ellen MacArthur

In 2005 she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, undergoing weeks of intensive treatment at the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford.

“I missed a lot of school but managed to keep up at home because I was anxious not to fall back a year behind my friends,” she said.

Rachel passed her GCSEs with flying colours, scooping 12 A* grades.

She is now studying politics and is looking forward to taking up a place at Oxford University where she’ll read politics, philosophy and economics before hopefully embarking on a career with the Middle East Peace Envoy.

“I’ve got a few essays to write before we set off on Sunday so I have quite a bit to do, but I’m really looking forward to meeting the rest of the crew,” she said.

The trust, launched by Ellen MacArthur in 2003, takes young people aged between eight and 18 sailing to help them regain their confidence on their way to recovery from cancer, leukaemia and other serious illnesses.

Rachel and the crew will set sail from Cowes on the Isle of Wight on Sunday to begin the first leg of the 2,000 nautical mile journey.

The teenager will be on board for a week, docking at Brighton on Monday and Tuesday and arriving at Dover next Friday.

The Ellen MacArthur Trust Skandia Round Britain Voyage of Discovery involves 85 young people across 17 legs, sailing the 48-foot yacht Scarlet Oyster.

It will stop at 17 ports around Great Britain including Brighton, Dover, London, Ipswich, Hull, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow, Belfast, Douglas, Liverpool, Cardiff and Torquay and Southampton and will finish back in Cowes on September 13.

Trust patrons Ellen MacArthur and double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson will be sailing on several of the legs. Ellen will be on board for part of the first leg, sailing from Cowes to Brighton.

She said: “I’m really excited about the summer ahead, spending time with the young people from the trust and visiting different places around the UK for the first time since my first solo voyage around Britain in 1995.

“The talks are the first opportunity that I’ve had for a long time to share my sailing experiences as well as my plans for the future and I can’t wait for it all to start!”

Rachel’s progress can be followed online at www.roundbritain.org where a Geovoile interactive tracking map will update the boat’s position every hour,.

Supporters can also donate £10 to “buy a mile” of the voyage.

Donations can be made online by visiting www.roundbritain.org or by calling 0870 0636774.

A virtual yacht has been created to track fundraising and each donation will move it forward one mile.