Ellen MacArthur's single-handed racing career came to an end last weekend with an emphatic victory in the Route du Rhum and a new monohull record for her Open 60 Kingfisher.

After an intense battle with south coast rival Mike Golding in Ecover, fought across the tough 3,540-mile course from St Malo to Guadeloupe race, MacArthur crossed the finish line more than nine hours in front and set a new time of 13 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes, breaking the current record, held by Yves Parlier, by a remarkable two days, five hours and 52 minutes.

The 26-year-old Cowes yachtswoman becomes the first female skipper and the first Brit to win the monohull class of the Route du Rhum and her success, together with Golding's feat in also breaking Parlier's record, suggest a new found British supremacy over the French, who have long been regarded as the masters of single-handed yacht racing

Both sailors suffered damage to their rigging after storms battered their boats during the first week of the race and Golding lost his daggerboard and two spinnakers that would have given him vital extra speed in the closing stages.

It was 'one hell of a race', MacArthur commented at the finish.

"The stress levels were hardly ever below maximum! I could not have given any more, the intensity has been extraordinary. Mike sailed a fantastic race, pushed us both to our limits and beyond - I am disappointed for him, but of course elated to have held on to the lead."

Golding, who was anxious to beat his British rival after losing to Kingfisher in both the Vendee Globe and the EDS Challenge last year, admitted to being disappointed.

"We keep on getting on the podium, but we have to figure out why we are not winning," he commented.

"But I know we will win a major event. I know we can."

For MacArthur, this was the last solo race as she moves into multihull racing with a crew while Golding has said he will continue single-handed racing, his sights set on winning the Vendee Globe in 2005.