How does the passage 'Taking on the World" portray Ellen MacArthur's thoughts and feelings?

At the beginning we believe that Ellen is strong and fearless, she knows what she's doing since she is a professional, however, as the passage progresses we can see Ellen slowly becoming worried and nervous when she loses control over the boat."...I felt almost as if I was stepping on to the moon- a world over which I had no control." Although Ellen is experienced in sailing this is a whole new level of sailing for her. This phrase is also a simile since in reality the writer describes what it felt like climbing up the mast. We can also see that she is trying to let the reader imagine themselves so they can get a feeling of what it was like for her. "You can't ease the sheets...nor can you alter the settings...if something goes wrong you are not there to attend to it...You are a passive observer looking down at your boat" The word "you" is repeated because Ellen is trying to involve the reader in the story. This creates an effect since the readers can now imagine themselves inside the story facing the struggles of keeping themselves safe and feel the sense of responsibility. "There would be no second climb on this one - I knew that I would not have the energy." The writer realizes how hard it is becoming to sail. The dash emphasizes the reality since the phrase "I knew that I would not have the energy" shows Ellen stating that she only has enough energy to climb the mast once more and knows that she couldn't climb up a second time. This shows Ellen's weaker side and we start to see how she is slowly starting to face difficulties.

"I tugged and tugged on the rope - the frustration was unreal" The repetition of tugged shows that she was at a difficult stage. By now she felt exhausted and very weak but is still determined to finish the race. After the dash the phrase "the frustration was unreal" was not joined because she wanted to show the reader how she felt at the time trying to free the rope. At the time she became nervous and annoyed because of how powerless she was and that’s why she emphasized her struggle by repeating tugged. “Below the sea stretched out forever, the size and length of the waves..." Here Ellen uses a hyperbole "sea stretched out forever..." to show the reader what it looked like to her and how it also made her feel hopeless because of the situation she was in, and how she was hoping that the race ends soon. Another hyperbole Ellen uses is: "...by far the most dangerous part and I had my heart in my mouth..." The writer is trying to show how scared she was, knowing that this was a very critical moment for her and despite being very terrified she tries to tell herself in this phrase "no time for complacency now, I thought not 'till you reach the deck, kiddo, it’s far from over" to stay calm and that she can't start panicking now, before even reaching the deck. At this point the reader becomes very tense since we want to find out what will happen next to Ellen. "My limbs were bruised and my head was spinning, but I felt like a million dollars..." This shows that although Ellen felt exhausted and did suffer some physical pain she felt relieved and happy on the inside at finally completing the race.