"It's a sport where you can fight. This is not only played on the physical. There is also strategy, sleep management, the ability to manage frustration. And we see it in the rankings," explains Violette Dorange, 10th in the last Solitaire du Figaro.

The 21-year-old sailor starts the race with Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) and the duo has been training together for months: "Usually we are opponents... I preferred to have him in my team this time to increase my chances, "comments the Breton, a regular pontoon and son of the famous sailor Laurent Bourgnon.

Separately, they already have six transatlantic crossings on the clock, but as for the other crews at the start, the sea air will always have a scent of discovery. "Going together is always a new story, regardless of gender. On board, we are just soldiers on a boat. You have to do the job, maneuver well, think well," said Bourgnon, 20.

Long history

The famous crossing, formerly Transat AG2R, has a long history with women. Catherine Chabaud, Florence Arthaud and Isabelle Autissier took the start in the 1990s, on Figaro Bénéteau monohulls, types of sailboats still in use.

The monohull of Camille Berthel and Pierre Le Boucher, at the start of the Transat Paprec, on April 30, 2023 in Concarneau © FRED TANNEAU / AFP

In 2000, sailor Karine Fauconnier even won the duet event with Lionel Lemonchois. But since then, no woman has been on the podium. For this 16th edition, there will necessarily be three.

Last July, the organizers officially imposed on the crews to be 100% mixed, a first. "We were entering a new phase for the race, with a new partner (Paprec, editor's note) and we wanted to tell a different story," said Jospeh Bizard, general manager of OC Sport Pen Duick, organizer of the event.

"It must also address a problem in our sport which is that women do not necessarily feel at home in ocean racing and we need to stimulate a dynamic," he said.

"Underrepresented"

On the skippers side, we rejoice. "There have never been so many female sailors to participate," said Pauline Courtois, world match-racing champion. It opens up a lot of opportunities for girls," adds the one who starts with Corentin Horeau (Mutuelle Bleue).

For Jeanne Grégoire, former sailor and director of the Finistère Offshore Racing Pole in Port-la-Forêt, this approach is to be welcomed. "Eventually, this will allow more women to participate in major races because they will have gained more experience," she said.

"It's unfortunate to have to impose it, but we can see that it is necessary. At the start of the Route du Rhum, there are 138 boats and 7 women at the helm. We are in a system where women are underrepresented," she explains.

While the world of offshore racing was shaken at the beginning of the year by the Clarisse Crémer case, who claimed to have been landed by her sponsor because she had become a mother, the Transat Paprec must remind us that "women know how to sail at a very high level," says Jeanne Grégoire.

The start of the race was given in the early afternoon in Concarneau for a course of 3,890 miles to cover until Saint-Barthélémy.

© 2023 AFP