Category: Trophée Jules Verne 2024/2025
The Famous Project CIC at the equator
The eight sailors of The Famous Project CIC have been sailing since last nite at 20 hours and 53 minutes standing upwards. They crossed the equator on their 48th day at sea and are now sailing in the northern hemisphere. Ahead of them lie the last 3 000 miles of their incredible journey, a full week of tortuous sailing between the Azores high and the North Atlantic lows. « We are truly delighted, happy with our time since Cape Horn, and because the northern hemisphere means we’re heading home… » said Alexia Barrier.
Alexia (Barrier), Dee (Caffari), Annemieke (Bes), Rebecca (Gmür Hornell), Deborah (Blair), Molly (LaPointe), Támara (Echegoyen), and Stacey (Jackson) have begun their final sprint, which could see them reach Ouessant and then Brest on Thursday, January 22. The girls can legitimately congratulate themselves on their fast and efficient sailing in the South Atlantic. Having rounded Cape Horn in the middle of the afternoon on January 6, it took them only 9 days, 5 hours and 38 minutes to reach the equator, one of the very best time ever on this leg.
As we have seen since their departure from Brest, the eight sailors of the highly international crew at the helm of IDEC SPORT have continuously improved their mastery of the maxi multihull. They have been able to adapt to the inevitable damages that have slowed their progress, from the capricious hook on the mainsail to their delaminated starboard foil. Positioned far to the west, close to the coast of Brazil, their trajectory should allow them to cross the Doldrums, which proved so troublesome on the outward leg, in a minimum amount of time. This will be followed by a long reach across the east-northeast wind generated by an Azores high, which is currently living up to its name. The smoothness and efficiency of their route to the Bay of Biscay, France, Ushant, and the port of Brest will depend on how far south it shifts.
Cape of Good Hope! It’s done !
The eight sailors of The Famous Project CIC completed their journey across the vast Atlantic Ocean today, on this day tuesday December 16th, at 17.00. After 17 days, 2 hours and 20 mn of eventful sailing from Ushant, Alexia (Barrier), Dee (Caffari), Annemieke (Bes), Rebecca (Gmür Hornell), Deborah (Blair), Molly (LaPointe), Támara (Echegoyen), and Stacey (Jackson) crossed the longitude of the famous Cape of Good Hope, the first (before Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn) of the three major landmarks of this round-the-world race. They are now preparing to enter the formidable and feared Indian Ocean, with its 70,560,000 km² of liquid horizons (13.83% of the total surface area of the globe), stretching from Cape Agulhas (a short distance east of the Cape of Good Hope) to the south coast of Tasmania between South West Cape and South East Cape. An entrance punctuated by numerous “tolls” that the crew will have to pay, starting with negotiating the Agulhas Current, which runs against their course and forces them to take a long detour north to avoid the hellish confrontation of the wind and sea. This current generates powerful waves and flows of up to nearly 4 knots. Alexia and her crew, in the absence of favorable conditions for repairs, are deploying all their energy and imagination to navigate and make progress despite the handicap of a blocked mainsail hook.
Alexia Barrier at the Cape of Good Hope :
“This is a very powerful moment for us, it’s our first cape on this round-the-world trip. It’s a symbolic frontier, a frontier where we leave the Atlantic and prepare to enter the Indian Ocean. We know that beyond this cape, everything changes: the sea, the wind, the commitment. We look at it with great respect and we can’t wait. Right now, the main challenge is the weather and sea conditions. We have to deal with strong winds, a cross swell of about 4 meters, and above all, the Agulhas Current. It’s a powerful current, and when the wind blows against it, it creates really rough seas. In a multihull, this is undoubtedly the most demanding and stressful situation: being upwind with crosswinds and cross swells.
So we’re working on several route options. The main idea is to avoid sailing with the current head-on and in too rough seas, perhaps going further north of the Agulhas Current.
There are things to keep an eye on in terms of the weather. That’s obviously done with the routing team. We talk regularly, analyze, compare, and try to anticipate.
The goal is to enter the Indian Ocean in the best possible position. With our hook issue, we are limited. We have to consider what size mainsail to use. We need to know whether to use one reef, a high mainsail, or two reefs… we have to anticipate. But that doesn’t stop us from moving forward and continuing to sail with a smile, of course. Even if, in the last few hours, it hasn’t always been easy to have a clear idea about the choices we’ve made.
We have to continue the adventure. So, we’ve all had to give up a little on speed and our time ambitions. But that’s it, I think we’ve passed that wave.”
The Famous Project CIC at Cape Leeuwin
At the time when Australians open their Christmas presents, due to the time difference, the sailors of the all-female The Famous Project CIC crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin at the southwestern tip of the Australian continent at 1:19 p.m. (French time). Alexia (Barrier), Dee (Caffari), Annemieke (Bes), Rebecca (Gmür Hornell), Deborah (Blair), Molly (LaPointe), Támara (Echegoyen), and Stacey (Jackson) thus checked off the second of three major milestones in their round-the-world voyage, after the Cape of Good Hope on December 16 and before the Horn, after 24 days, 22 hours and 39 minutes of sailing since their departure from Ushant.
This was a highly symbolic crossing, especially for the newcomers on board, and was welcomed and appreciated as a real gift at the end of a beautiful and fast week in the Indian Ocean. The IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran demonstrated the full extent of its astonishing seafaring qualities in rough seas and strong northwesterly winds, which enabled Alexia and her “girls” to cover nearly 700 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of over 27 knots.
This cavalcade was briefly interrupted this morning by a huge fishing net caught in the starboard foil of the large multihull. “We went from 30 knots to 5 knots!” said Alexia. “We put the boat in reverse and were able to remove the large net, but the foil remained stuck in the down position for a while. Everything is now back to normal. “
Such is the tumultuous life of adventurers in the Southern Ocean, where euphoria is followed by anxiety, and vice versa. But on this Christmas Eve, it will take more than a fishing net to dampen the enthusiasm of the crew, who are more comfortable than ever at the helm of their giant multihull in the demanding conditions of the Southern Ocean.
Alexia Barrier:
“Leeuwin is a cape that commands respect, even when everything is going well. We know we are far from everything, committed, and that we are no longer playing with margins. Crossing it is both a source of pride and a reminder: we are guests here. So we remain humble, focused, and grateful to be able to pass through.
The Indian Ocean remains the Indian Ocean: demanding, changeable, sometimes harsh. The big difference with my Vendée Globe is the support and the crew. When you’re sailing solo, everything is more mentally demanding, every decision rests on you. Here, we share the analysis, the monitoring, the effort. It allows us to go faster, but it doesnt take away from the complexity of the ocean.
The boat is sound, the crew is becoming more and more precise, and we are in an area where every weather opportunity counts. But we are not forcing things: the record is a possible consequence, not a goal in itself.
Our confidence is growing gradually. We are learning about the boat, the crew’s automatic responses are falling into place, and we are reading the sea better. When everything aligns, the weather, the settings, the energy on board, we can afford to push a little harder without losing our clarity.
The crew is doing well. There is fatigue, of course, but above all, there is real mental strength. The atmosphere remains healthy and committed, with a lot of support between us. We feel that the collective is a real driving force, and that makes all the difference over time.
Our hook failure was a serious incident, but we got it under control. We identified the problem, secured the situation, and adapted our operations accordingly. The boat continues to make good progress, and we remain very vigilant about what lies ahead. At sea, the key is not to avoid all problems, but to know how to manage them.”
Cape Leeuwin according to Annemieke Bes (Netherlands):
“Cape Leeuwin is the stunning, dramatic, and historically significant southwesternmost point of mainland Australia, located in Western Australia, where the mighty Indian and Southern Oceans dramatically meet, marked by mainland Australia’s tallest lighthouse, a vital beacon for ships and a popular tourist spot known for its rugged beauty and whale watching. It is named after the Dutch ship Leeuwin (Lioness) that sighted it in 1622 and is a major landmark.“
Stacey Jackson (Australia)
” I am really proud to be passing the cape Leeuwin line as it’s one step closer to the final goal so being this close to Australia and not stopping is ok for the mission.
Ticking over the 24th day at sea feels to be a normal routine now. Though some days are better than others I always see it as a privilege to be doing something as cool as the Jules Verne.
My first time on a big trimaran in the open oceans and it is all I excepted and more. It’s fast and fun and has you always a little bit more concentrated than a monohull yacht.
I am looking forward to sailing in the pacific however our forecast isn’t looking as nice as it should be right now. Weirdly not a lot of wind rather than too much. But it will be us to Cape Horn. The Everest of sailing.
The 80th Sydney Hobarth race starts on boxing day without me this year which is sad for me to miss a start. (Stacey has sailed this Australian Classic 19 times!) But I consider this an acceptable excuse to not be on the starting line. I will though be closely following my team mats on Palm Beach 100 and friends on other boats.”
The studious learning process of sailing around the world
Router, meteorologist, strategist, Christian Dumard is above all a sailing enthusiast. Weather advisor on more than a dozen round the world record attempts, in addition to advising organizers of no less than three Vendée Globes, three Ocean Races, and two Golden Globes, he is, for the girls of The Famous Project CIC, the voice from land that helps Alexia (Barrier), Dee (Caffari), Annemieke (Bes), Rebecca (Gmür Hornell), Deborah (Blair), Molly (LaPointe), Támara (Echegoyen), and Stacey (Jackson) decipher and figure out the best route to sail around the globe aboard a Maxi Trimaran ocean racing boat. As The Famous Project CIC approaches the highly symbolic end of the first Atlantic phase of its Jules Verne Trophy voyage in excellent conditions, Christian sees his respect and admiration for this all-female crew grow with every mile. Given the immensity of the challenge, their humble and cautious approach is proving to be the only way to achieve the ambition of “completing the loop” and becoming the first all-female crew to finish the Jules Verne Trophy with the best possible time.
A reasoned introduction.
As Alexia, Dee, and their ladies finish their second week at sea, several truths become apparent to the observer, giving this extraordinary adventure all its flavor and spice. Never before has this newly assembled crew sailed together for so long aboard IDEC SPORT. Only three of these women have experience in the southern oceans, and none of them on board a maxi multihull. Very few women have ever sailed in a multihull race around the world, and Tracy Edwards and her “girls” on the Royal and Sun Alliance catamaran, which was forced to abandon the race halfway through, naturally come to mind. Dona Bertarelli on Spindrift and Dame Ellen McArthur on the trimaran B&Q Castorama can boast of having completed a round-the-world trip on a multihull. “Entering this Jules Verne Trophy cautiously is simply a matter of common sense at sea,” emphasizes Christian Dumard. “All these women are showing great professionalism and measured caution, which is entirely justified given their limited experience on this type of exceptional boat, the venerable age of this trimaran launched in 2006, and their ambition to finish this race. I greatly admire their ability to strike the right balance and their incredible serenity. This is a round the world race characterized by kindness, a desire to do well, and sharing, in a calm and cheerful atmosphere. They are taking the time to get into their race and to fully appreciate this incredible boat that few sailors have been able to master. They are improving every day, every mile a little more, and are becoming bolder without panicking or overdoing it. They are taking full measure of the boat’s potential, its specific characteristics, and its limits, and are gradually, at their own pace, pushing it further every day. This is a very intelligent approach, which preserves both the crew and the equipment.”
At the table of the greats…
Alexia repeats it over and over again: she and her seven women have invited themselves to the table of the greats, on a Jules Verne Trophy that has only seen immense sailors dare to attempt to claim it, such as Peter Blake, Steve Fossett, Olivier de Kersauzon, Bruno Peyron, Franck Cammas, Thomas Coville, and Francis Joyon… “We are sailing on the shoulders of giants,” Alexia Barrier murmured humbly. Their gradual rise to prominence is the result of careful calculation and thoughtful reflection. “The start was slow,” admits Dumard, “but justified by the rough sea conditions, with 4-5 meter waves in which the girls didn’t want to take any risks. They were right to do so, and they were then able to benefit from a calm trade wind, perfect for continuing their introduction to the race. Admittedly, the doldrums widened as they passed through, causing them to slow down for a whole day. The southeast trade winds were very moderate, allowing the girls to continue learning about the boat and life in a long-term community, and to prepare themselves for the first major challenge of their round the world trip: entering the turbulent waters of the southern hemisphere. A very favorable sequence of events is presenting itself to them as they head for the southern tip of Africa, to be reached in the night between Sunday and Monday, around 16 days after leaving Ouessant.”
Entering the Southern Ocean
This is already a reality for the girls of The Famous Project at the end of their second week, as they enter the southern latitudes, the “land of shadows” from which they will only emerge when they round Cape Horn in three to four weeks’ time. The immediate weather pattern shows signs of divergence, suggesting that the wind will fluctuate in strength. A line of clouds visible on satellite images lies directly in the boat’s path. The gusts under these clouds are described as “not nasty,” but still stronger than the established wind, prompting the utmost vigilance. The approach to the Cape of Good Hope immediately presents a very clear choice of route, between a “normal” route to the south and a “conservative” route to the north. The crew and routers agree to stay north for the next 24 to 48 hours to avoid the “very strong” winds and gusts of over 60 knots further south. The southern option is faster but considered too extreme for a first encounter with a southern depression. The conservative route to the north is preferred in order to avoid high seas, allowing the crew to gradually adjust to these new conditions. It should be noted that the Agulhas Current* must be closely monitored. Situations where the wind is contrary to the current, which would cause dangerous seas, should be avoided.
*The Agulhas Current is a marine current in the Indian Ocean. It takes its name from the South African Cape Agulhas. It flows along the east coast of South Africa, towards the southwest, and is measured at over 4 knots in some places.
How to follow The Famous Project CIC’s record attempt ?
- The official The Famous Project CIC app on iOS and Android (download available)
- The Famous Project CIC tracking map: https://thefamousproject.io/
mapster-wp-map/tracking- theboat/ - Website: https://thefamousproject.io/
- The Famous Project CIC on social media: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook
- Daily onboard LIVEs on The Famous Project CIC YouTube channel at 12:00 PM