Ellen grew up in a landlocked part of England's north, Derbyshire, in a town called Whatstandwell. The middle child of two schoolteachers, Ellen was four years old when she experienced her first sea voyage, out on a dinghy with her aunt, from that moment onwards, Ellen was entranced with sailing. Over the next several years, Ellen read anything she could find about sailing and the oceans of the world. By saving her lunch money Ellen managed to buy her own dinghy at the age of 13, which she kept in her bedroom. Though Ellen had considered becoming a veterinarian, just before her high-school exams she fell ill with glandular fever and was confined to bed. Ellen spent hours watching the progress of the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race and decided to pursue yachting as a career instead.

At the age of 18, Ellen made an historic solo trip around the British Isles. Two years later, in 1997, she took part in a solo race across the Atlantic Ocean, in which she made a respectable seventeenth-place finish. In February of 2001, she made a stunning finish in what is known as one of the world's toughest sailing challenges, the solo Vendée Globe race. With a time of 94 days and a second-place win, she was the youngest person ever to finish it.  Ellen also set a new women's world record in yachting for solo circumnavigation. One of her preparations for the trip was teaching herself to sew a piece of pigskin.  This was because she knew of a sailor who had bitten off his tongue during a solo race when the boat's boom struck him.  Ellen wanted to be prepared to sew hers back on in the event that the same happened to her.

Ellen's boat in the Vendée Globe was a monohull named the Kingfisher in honor of her generous sponsor, a British retail group.  In 2002, Ellen won the Route du Rhum, a solo transatlantic race from St. Malo, France, to the archipelago of Guadeloupe in the French West Indies. The following year, Ellen attempted to break the world record for fastest nonstop circumnavigation.  This was in the Jules Verne Trophy race, but her boat's mast snapped in the Indian Ocean and she was forced to drop out.

Back on land, Ellen became a partner in the Offshore Challenges Group, a project management company in adventure sports. Ellen lives in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.

Career:
Completed solo sail around the British Isles, 1995.
Finished in seventeenth place in a transatlantic race, 1997.
Won first place in her class in the France-to-Guadeloupe Route du Rhum challenge, 1998.
Placed second in the Vendée Globe race, 2001.
Set new world record in the Route du Rhum race, 2002.
Set new world record for fastest circumnavigation of the globe as solo sailor, 2005.