Record-breaking yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur returns to solo racing this weekend

The 26-year-old, who lives on the Isle of Wight, is one of the favourites to win her class in the Route de Rhum race which starts in St Malo, France.

It is the first solo race she has competed in since her Vendee Globe triumph last year.

Other Britons competing are: Southampton-based Mike Golding, 42, Miranda Merron, 33, from Hamble in Hampshire, and Conrad Humphreys, 29, from Plymouth.

MacArthur is competing in the monohull class

MacArthur, originally from Derbyshire, is the fastest woman and youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe single-handed after her second place in the Vendee Globe.

She is one of the star attractions of the 3,540-mile race, which finishes in Guadeloupe, French West Indies in two weeks.

The race takes place every four years and this year's event has 59 boats competing for the �50,000 first prize.

It may be the last time the 26-year-old competes in her beloved Kingfisher which she famously kissed at the end of the Vendee.

Next year she will sale in a catamaran, Kingfisher II to try and beat the record for sailing non-stop around the world.

Race organisers expect more than one million people to watch the start of the race in St Malo on Saturday.