British sailor Ellen MacArthur was eight hours ahead of record pace in her attempt to set a new solo round the world record after battling through the doldrums.

The 28-year-old reported on her website she had been on deck most of the night in a bid to keep her 75-foot trimaran B&Q moving in flat calms.

"Some sleep overnight but resting with the wind up and down is pretty hard work but we seem to be almost out of doldrums," she reported.

She was chasing the record of 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds set by France's Francis Joyon aboard his 90-foot trimaran IDEC last February.

MacArthur set sail from France nine days ago and she needs to make the finish line by February 9 next year to break the record.

MacArthur became an international name when she finished second in the Vendee Globe round-the-world solo race in 2001 and then won the monohull category in the 2002 Route du Rhum transatlantic race.

(Agencies)