Les Sables-d'Olonne (France) (AFP)
Absent from the last edition, the sailors are back on the Vendée Globe.
Six women will take the start, Sunday in Les Sables d'Olonne, of the round the world race alone and non-stop.
"Today, it's normal to see women racing offshore. It's not extraordinary to do the Vendée Globe because you're a woman, it's just extraordinary to do the Vendée Globe. look at them as sailors and not dwell on the fact that they are women ", remarks the skipper Paul Meilhat, winner of the Route du Rhum 2018 (Imoca class) and member of the team of Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Coeur ) for this Vendée Globe.
For this 9th edition, five of the six sailors will set off for the first time for a solo round-the-world trip.
.
Alexia Barrier (TSE - 4myplanet) - FRA - 1st participation - 40 years
Mediterranean, Alexia Barrier has long lived as a sailing teacher and skipper on billionaire yachts.
She threw herself into this Vendée Globe despite the financial difficulties (her budget is not completely closed).
She sails on a boat dating from 1998 and is committed to the adventure by highlighting the association she created 10 years ago for the preservation of the oceans.
.
Clarisse Crémer (Banque Populaire X) - FRA - 1st participation - 30 years
She is the youngest of the female fleet.
She discovered the Imoca (18m monohull dedicated to the Vendée Globe) after being asked by Banque Populaire to do this Vendée Globe.
A Parisian for a long time, she moved to Brittany in 2013 to embark on a mini-transat project (6.50 m boat).
She was seasoned for this Vendée Globe on a sailboat dating from 2010 alongside Armel Le Cléac'h, the last winner.
.
Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Coeur) - GBR - 3rd participation - 46 years old
The English sailor left in 1998 for her first round the world trip.
Since then, she has ticked all the boxes in the offshore race and took 4th place in her first Vendée Globe in 2008/2009.
She only sailed for five days in the next edition due to a dismasting.
Mother of a 9-year-old boy, she will compete in the 9th edition with her companion Romain Attanasio and will be one of the serious contenders for the podium.
She is carrying out a project with Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque (which allows underprivileged children to come for surgery in France), on a boat dating from 2010.
.
Pip Hare (Medallia) - GBR - 1st participation - 46 years old
The English sailor has been preparing her Vendée Globe project for 11 years.
A professional skipper in particular on cruise ships, she has sailed a lot in racing mode on small 12m monohulls, the Class 40. She landed a title sponsor late and comes with a very small budget.
She acquired a boat born in 1999 to make her dream come true and is already looking towards 2024.
.
Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) - GER / FRA - 1st participation - 43 years old
German by her dad, Isabelle Joschke did not grow up in a maritime environment.
She has climbed all levels of ocean racing, from the optimist to the imoca, including the mini-transat and the Solitaire du Figaro.
Graduated in classical letters, she sails on a 2007 boat, to which foils have been added to go faster.
She is advised by Alain Gautier, winner of the Vendée Globe in 1992/1993.
.
Miranda Merron (Campagne de France) - GBR - 1st participation - 51 years old
Miranda Merron is English but she settled on the other side of the Channel more than 20 years ago, in Normandy where she lives part of the year with her companion, the French navigator Halvard Mabire, who accompanies in its Vendée Globe project, with a boat of almost 15 years of age.
Advertising, she chose to return to ocean racing.
In 1998, she was part of the first all-female crew to go in search of the Jules Verne Trophy, under the leadership of Tracy Edwards, notably with Sam Davies.
© 2020 AFP