And they’re off!
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At 1:40 pm UTC, on Saturday 29 November, eight women – or rather, eight “super-sailors” from the ranks of The Famous Project CIC aboard the maxi trimaran IDEC SPORT – crossed the starting line of the Jules Verne Trophy, marking the first moments of the extreme round-the-world race with no stops or assistance.
The IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran set out to face the Jules Verne Trophy challenge, driven by clear direction, an unwavering promise and a dream that spans oceans: to become the first all-female crew to complete a non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe. And SLAM is right there with them, having provided oilskins and all the technical sportswear necessary for withstanding the ocean’s forces, that leave no room for error, and offering the sailors the best comfort possible to take on the worst conditions.
Alexia Barrier
Saturday's departure was not just a signal, but a brave statement. Four- to five-metre waves, strong north-westerly winds, a weather window that was anything but favourable. Yet Alexia Barrier, Dee Caffari and the rest of the courageous crew chose to set sail all the same, because there are challenges that have no time for perfect conditions: they demand determination, clarity and the ability to read the sea for what it is, not for what one would like it to be.
In just the first forty-eight hours, the race began with a rollercoaster of varying conditions. The trimaran first accelerated southwards, grinding out the miles, the crew settling into its stride. Then, as night fell, everything changed. An anticyclonic bubble rising from the Azores cut into the team's route at Porto, turning a decisive pace into a battle against falling winds. Alexia, Dee and the others reacted on the fly with a series of gybes on Sunday 30 November, through day and night, which allowed them to delay the slowdown as much as possible. But the effects of the dropping wind were inevitable: the boat slowed and the strategy shifted.
From full-on racing mode, the team switched to maintaining a slow but steady pace, heading west-southwest as they waited for the wind to pick up again, first from the west and then from the northwest. Under clear skies and rising temperatures, the sea became calmer and the crew was able to prepare for the next front expected on Monday. The gybes of the last few hours will give way to a series of tacks, a change that will demand even more focus during watch shifts and even closer coordination between those manoeuvring, those monitoring the data and those managing the boat's balance in transition.
Every course decision, every sail adjustment, every repeated gesture speaks to the same goal: finding the perfect pressure to resume the descent southwards, heading for the Canary Islands and beyond. A balancing act between caution and ambition, the same tension that defines all great ocean challenges.
This endeavour is not just about speed, but about dealing with obstacles that can vary from hour to hour. The trimaran races when it can and resists when it must. And the women sailing aboard do the same. This is where SLAM is at its strongest as a key partner: being there by their side, with equipment designed for real conditions, where the cold and heat are real, the wind is sharp or absent entirely, and decisions must be made moment to moment.
In these first miles of the round-the-world race, The Famous Project CIC is demonstrating just what makes this adventure so special: determination, expertise, clarity in reading the weather and mutual trust. The route to set the record has just begun. The ocean has taught its first lesson and the team has responded with the calm and resilience of great sailors.
The wind will soon pick up, and their speed with it. The challenge lives on, as powerful and as unpredictable as ever.
SLAM is there with them, increasingly involved in the story they are writing across the waves, a story that has something of the thrill of an adventure but which has been prepared with meticulous professional planning by the whole team.
Since 1998, when Tracy Edwards' attempt on the Royal & Sun Alliance catamaran came to a halt before it had even started, no all-female crew had ever set its sights on this enormous challenge. Alexia Barrier, a sailor from Antibes, has turned the dream into reality with an international team of eight athletes from seven countries lined up at the starting line, a group that spans ages from 23 to 52 and backgrounds ranging from Olympic sailing to ocean crossings.
Together, they set sail on a 40,000 Km journey around the three great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, in an attempt to break the most legendary record in sailing, set nine years ago by Francis Joyon and his crew: 40 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes.
The rules are simple: the Trophy goes to the fastest circumnavigation of the globe, aboard any type of yacht, with no limit on the number of crew members. The start and finish must be on the same imaginary line drawn between the Le Créac'h lighthouse, off the island of Ouessant in Brittany, and Lizard Point in Cornwall. The Trophy was first awarded in 1993 and, since then, all nine winners have used catamarans or trimarans. The current challenge is to beat the time set in 2017 by Francis Joyon and his crew aboard the 31.5-metre trimaran IDEC SPORT: 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
author: Elena Giolai/SLAM
2017 - Francis Joyon / IDEC SPORT (31.5 m) 40:23:30:30
2012 - Loïck Peyron / Banque Populaire V (40 m) 45:13:42:53
2010 - Franck Cammas / Groupama 3 (31.5 m) 48:07:44:52
2005 - Bruno Peyron / Orange II (36.8 m) 50:16:20:04
2004 - Olivier de Kersauson / Geronimo (33.8 m) 63:13:59:46
2002 – Bruno Peyron / Orange (32.8 m) 64:08:37:24
1997 – Olivier de Kersauson / Sport-Elec (27.3 m) 71:14:22:08
1994 – Peter Blake, Robin Knox-Johnston / Enza New Zealand (28 m) 74:22:17:22
1993 – Bruno Peyron / Commodore Explorer (28 m) 79:06:15:56