The epic pointlessness of Ellen Macarthur's global circumnavigation

I find all the media focus on this event annoying and somewhat tiresome. I can hear you thinking..but why Beowulf? surely this is a magnificent achievement against great odds by one so young... I would agree it is an achievement and salute her skill and dedication but I still see it as a pointless and decadent one of no serious import.

Macarthur's global circumnavigation is a sign of the poverty of western civilisation's ambition with it's hamster like circling of a shrunken globe, for nothing new has been acheived no new frontier conquered just an abstract record changed. Which brings up another issue for me, the context of her voyage was one of sport, not exploration which immediately lessens it's impact, in a 1000 years time people will remember Yuri Gagarin but not Ellen Macarthur.