Gritty sailor Ellen MacArthur may select the Newport-Bermuda crossing for her next record attempt.

MacArthur was given a rapturous reception yesterday as she returned to port in England after breaking the single-handed round-the-world after 71 days at sea.

Although she will be taking her time to recover from the rigours of the solo attempt, a spokeswoman for the 28-year-old revealed she may be heading to the Island at some point in the future.

The spokeswoman said: “Her sponsorship deal with B&Q is until 2007 and the boat she has is too big to enter into any races - it was designed for racing against records. “There is a shortlist of attempts she would like to do and re-attempting the solo transatlantic record she missed out on last time. “She would also like to try the 24-hour speed record and the round Britain and Ireland attempt. “Another one is the Shanghai to London or the Newport, Rhode Island to Bermuda. “We will decide which one she will be doing and start planning it once things calm down after her round-the-world attempt. “She is going to be pretty exhausted when she arrives home so we are going to keep a close eye on her to make sure she is OK - she has been away for 70 days now. “Once she has completed her media commitments, we can then start thinking about the next attempt.” And Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) vice-commodore Andy Cox said they would welcome MacArthur's presence in Bermuda.

“If she was interested in taking part in next year's centennial Newport-Bermuda race in a demonstration class then that is certainly something we could consider,” he told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

“There would be some safety concerns as there is no motor on her vessel, but I am sure if she can manage to get around the world single-handed, then she could manage this crossing.

“Obviously she could not compete in the race itself but putting together a demonstration class for her could be a possibility if she was interested.”

Cox also said the RBYC would be “absolutely delighted to assist in any way we can” if MacArthur was interested in attempting a record on the 635-mile ocean crossing separately from the race.

American millionaire Steve Fossett currently holds the Newport to Bermuda record of 1 day 14 hours 35 minutes and 53 seconds set in Jan 2000, in a crewed vessel and also the single-handed record of 1 day 16:51.54 set in June 1999.