FOR sheer excitement, not much compares with clinging by one hand to the top of a 90-foot mast above the icy depths of the Southern Ocean.

But the last seven days in the life of round-the-world yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur have run even that daring drama pretty close.

She has dined with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, beaten Michael Owen and come a close second to David Beckham in the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year and been acclaimed in just about every poll for courage in sport.

Yesterday she reached the crest of her personal wave when she was voted Sportswoman of the Year at a glittering London lunch.

And today the Cowes-based yachtswoman was back at Buckingham Palace to receive her MBE.

Yet despite hundreds of thousands of votes and equal amounts of affection washing her way during a hectic round of ceremonies, the woman who at 24 became the youngest and fastest yachtswoman to race around the world after coming a glorious second in the Vendee Globe earlier this year refuses to acknowledge she is a sporting personality.

"I know I'm well known. I'd be silly if I didn't admit that - but I'm just a normal person," she said.

"The moment I stepped off Kingfisher my life was different. I've had many times this year when I didn't believe all this was happening.

"It's been a big year, a tiring year - and to be standing on stage in between two of the most famous footballers in the country on Sunday at the Sports Personality of the Year was incredible.

"But they are just people like me, and that's the way I look at it."

There is little chance, though, of Beckham or Owen being found on anything smaller than a cruise liner.

MacArthur, accompanied by only the occasional seabird, has rounded Cape Horn, dodged icebergs and braved tumultuous waves.

She has survived a collision with a submerged container, read endlessly a book about a cat called Thermal to stay awake when dangerous slumber besieged her mind - and, while a tempest attempted to capsize her fragile boat, swung precariously at the top of her mast.

What is more, she is just 5ft 2in tall and barely eight stones wet through and complete with oilskins.

The inspiration for such daring deeds has come from many quarters - including Sir Chay Blyth, who presented her with yesterday's Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year trophy, and round-the-world yachtsman Robin Knox Johnston.

But she revealed her incredible story would never have happened but for a bout of glandular fever and her grandmother Irene Lewis.

The illness saw her lying in bed, watching sailing on television when she was 17.

"Something just clicked in my mind, and I knew it was the career for me," she said.

"But it was my grandmother who showed me what could be achieved if you really wanted something."

Her grandmother passed A-levels in French and German at the age of 78 and then went on to graduate from Derby University with a degree in languages only to die three months later from cancer.

"At her graduation she gave the most inspiring speech I have ever heard," said MacArthur.

"She showed me that if people are inspired they can achieve anything. I later met Robin Knox Johnston at a Young Sailor of the Year awards and I realised that these people who had done such great things and written books were normal just like me. I knew then I could do it as well."

MacArthur grew up with her parents and two brothers in Derbyshire just about as far from the sea as you can get in Britain.

She appears supremely independent, the slight frame belying the strong will which saw her take the controls of her aunt's boat at the age of eight on a night trip back from the Isle of Wight.

At 18 she sailed single-handed round Britain.

But always the target was the 24,000 miles of the Vendee Globe - a challenge she does not rule out repeating in the future.

"People ask me what could I possibly do after the Vendee Globe," she said.

"But that's like asking Schumacher what he's going to do after winning his first Grand Prix. Now he's won more than 50.

"There's a lot to do. The Vendee is not something you do every six months, but I'd certainly do it again. First I'm going to finish my book in the first two months of next year."