Ellen MacArthur was not the only one celebrating her record-breaking round-the-world sailing trip on Wednesday. In Paddington, west London, Gerry Murphy, chief executive of Kingfisher, the retail chain, was pleased as Punch as he totted-up all the coverage his five-year sponsorship deal with the world's most famous sailor was generating.

"This is as a good as it gets for a sponsor," said Mr Murphy, reflecting on the publicity Kingfisher's two main DIY brands - B&Q and Castorama - have got from being plastered all over MacArthur's boat. "We have got two more years of this deal to run and I think it has been good value. The cost of the sponsorship has been more than covered from the publicity - and that was before she broke the record."

On Wednesday MacArthur was made a dame after she smashed the record for the fastest person to sail single-handedly around the world non-stop. She completed the journey in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds - trimming the record by one day, eight hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds.

Kingfisher has been sponsoring MacArthur since 1998 and in 2002 signed her up for another five years for between £2m-£3m a year. Kingfisher has spent about £10m-£12m backing her.

However, Mr Murphy said that the retail chain had more than made up its outlay. "Over the life of the sponsorship we calculated the brand exposure costed in advertising terms was at £100m up to 2004."

Mr Murphy was quick to point out that it was his predecessor, Sir Geoff Mulcahy, himself a keen sailor, who spotted and signed up MacArthur in 1998.

At the time Kingfisher was in the process of merging with Castorama, the French DIY chain, and thought a sponsorship deal with the young yachtswoman would boost Kingfisher's profile in France.

"It was about putting Kingfisher on the map in France. They like sailing and endurance sports and Ellen has the position in France as the petite Anglaise."

Michael Peters, chairman of Identica, a branding consultancy, said the sponsorship of MacArthur fitted well with the image of DIY. "Not only have B&Q got a fantastic amount of free advertising, they also have the perfect tie-up to their core business. They are all about do-it-yourself. What better example of doing it yourself is there? Sailing round the world single handed must be the ultimate do-it-yourself task."

One analyst said that the deal had really helped B&Q in France. "Everybody slagged Geoff [Mulcahy] when he signed her but his deal has come good."

However, the sponsorship deal is less helpful in Asia, where B&Q is also trying to expand, given that the Chinese are less enthusiastic sailors than the French. Mr Murphy said that MacArthur's next endeavour - the tea clipper challenge - would be more useful for its Chinese business since that race would start in Shanghai and finish in London.